Eleanor W Herkness

Eleanor Olivia Wallis Herkness, 84, of Roanoke, VA, and Lewisburg, WV, passed away peacefully on Thursday, September 18, 2014. Her parents were Lt. Colonel Herbert James Ferryman Wallis and Charlotte Elizabeth Benedict Wallis. Muffy came to the United States shortly before World War II and held both American and British citizenship. After her mother’s death in 1941, Muffy lived with her grandmother Olivia Procter 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, WV; 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 and Lewisburg, WV. 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. She is survived by her husband Wayne Herkness II of Roanoke, VA; her stepdaughters Nancy Herkness Theodorou of Glen Ridge, NJ; and Damon Herkness Newsom, of Salem, VA; and her nieces Susan Crudgington of Washington, DC; Olivia Crudgington of Sausalito, CA; and Keith Crudgington of Eugene, OR.