Elizabeth Edwards (1) (1949–2010)

Elizabeth Edwards, née Mary Elizabeth Anania, was the daughter of a Navy pilot and his wife. She was born in Jacksonville, Florida and grew up living on many different military bases, following her father's assignments. She attended Mary Washington College in Fredericksburg, Virginia and then transferred to the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill, where she earned a bachelor's degree. She graduated from the UNC School of Law and clerked for a federal judge before moving to Nashville, Tennessee, in 1978 to join a private law firm. In 1977, she had married John Edwards, a fellow law student, with whom she had two children. In 1981, she and her family moved to Raleigh, NC, where she worked in the Attorney General's Office, and at a law firm. In 1996, she retired from legal practice following the death of her son Wade. She devoted much of her time to running the Wade Edwards Foundation, had two more children, and taught legal writing at the UNC School of Law. She spent much of 2004 on the national campaign trail with her husband, the Democratic nominee for Vice President, and was his chief policy advisor. She became a health care activist and senior fellow at the American Progress Action Fund. In 2006, she published her first book, Saving Graces: Finding Solace and Strength from Friends and Strangers, a bestseller. Her second book Resilience: Reflections on the Burdens and Gifts of Facing Life's Adversities, came out in 2009 and was also a bestseller. She died in 2010, at age 61, after the return of her breast cancer.