Eloise Parker Locke

Eloise Parker Locke was born on February 15, 1926 in Dublin, Georgia, the eldest of four children. When her family moved to Baltimore, she eventually met and married the late Luther C. Locke Jr., a loving union that would last more than 50 years. Eloise will be remembered for many things. To say that she loved life would be to say that Everest is just a mountain. Her energy for the day to day was limitless. And her kindness and commitment to family and friends was equal only to her generosity to the less fortunate, and in particular, children. As a child, her family always did what they could to help those who did not have as much as they - such a statement for someone born poor in the segregated South during the Great Depression - and throughout her life she continued to give and do whatever she could to help others. She was an election judge and was politically active within our community. Summer after summer, Eloise organized jobs for local kids to work within our own neighborhood to keep it clean. She took scores of children and teenagers on trips to amusement parks, zoos, and never took a family vacation without inviting someone else's child along. She loved to travel and went on trips whenever she could. And, Eloise sewed clothes. For her daughters, yes, but even more for more mothers and daughters than can be remembered, and with the same perfection that showed through everything she did. On occasion she took money out of necessity, but far more often she did not, making that prom, bridesmaid, or Sunday best dress for someone because she wanted them to look beautiful. Eloise Locke had done many jobs in her life. As a young woman she worked as a domestic, tied tobacco in the country during the summer months, and even worked at Edgewood Arsenal during WWII. However, Eloise believed in education. A graduate of Frederick Douglass High School in Baltimore, she spent much of her life as a teacher, employed as long-term substitute for the Baltimore City school system. She was stern when it came to grades for her children, but no one was more proud or sang the praises of any child's accomplishments more genuinely than she. But she pushed each and every child she met to be the best that they could be. There cannot be a single child living in west Baltimore who did not get a book from Eloise Locke. When she did meet any who hadn't, she would give them one out of the trunk of her car. Eloise leaves behind to mourn her passing and to celebrate her life: her sister Beatrice Jacobs; six children - Edward Lee Locke, Luther Locke, III, Arenda Brockington, Lynette Locke, Andre Locke, Adrienne Unger; six grandchildren - Brian Locke, Thor Locke, Jessica Brockington, Stephanie Brockington, Hailey Unger, Olivia Unger; and scores of nieces, nephews, great-grandchildren, great nieces, great nephews, friends and other family members.

Tributes

Eloise Parker Locke

February 15, 1926 - May 10, 2005