Eleanor Olivia Wallis Herkness, 84, of Roanoke, VA, and Lewisburg, WV, passed away peacefully on Thursday, September 18, 2014.
Eleanor, known to her family and friends as Muffy, was born May 26, 1930, in Aldershot, England, along with her twin brother, Keith Warren Wallis. Her parents were Lt. Colonel Herbert James Ferryman Wallis and Charlotte Elizabeth Benedict Wallis.
Muffy came to the United States shortly after World War II and held both American and British citizenship.
After her mother’s death in 1941, Muffy lived with her grandmother, Olivia Proctor Benedict, as well as her aunt, Julia and William McCullough, and her uncle, Cooper and Laura Benedict. She had two half brothers, Cleveland Keith Crudgington and James Wilford Crudgington.
Muffy attended the Seven Hills School in Cincinnati, OH, and graduated from Abbot Academy in Andover, MA. Her college years were spent at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, NY; Greenbrier College in Lewisburg; and Swarthmore College in Swarthmore, PA, where she earned her degree.
Following college, she worked for Time Magazine in New York City.
She returned to West Virginia to manage her Uncle Cooper Benedict’s 1964 campaign for the Senate when he opposed Robert Byrd. In 1979, she married Wayne Herkness II, and they resided in White Sulphur Springs, WV, and Lewisburg.
A great lover of animals, Muffy helped found and, for many years, operated the Humane Society of Greenbrier County. She was active in both St. James Episcopal Church in Lewisburg and St. Thomas Episcopal Church in White Sulphur Springs. In addition, she was a staunch supporter of the Republican Party on both the local and national level. Muffy was a generous patron of humanitarian and cultural projects in Greenbrier County, including the library and the theatre. She also helped many individuals who were in need.
She is survived by her husband, Wayne Herkness II of Roanoke; her stepdaughters, Nancy Herkness Theodorou of Glen Ridge, NJ, and Damon Herkness Newsom of Salem, VA; and nieces, Susan Crudgington of Washington, D.C., Olivia Crudgington of Sausalito, CA, and Keith Crudgington of Eugene, OR.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Boys Home of Virginia, 414 Boys Home Road, Covington, VA 24426, or to the Greenbrier Humane Society, P.O. Box 926, Lewisburg, WV 24901.
A memorial service will be held Saturday, October 25, 2014, at 11 AM at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in White Sulphur Springs with a reception to follow.
An online guestbook is available by visiting www.johnmoakey.com.
John M. Oakey & Son Funeral Home and Crematory in Salem (540-389-5441) is serving the Herkness family.
Obituary originally published in the September 26, 2014, edition of the West Virginia Daily News.
