Edith Gandy Bestry, 99, of Winter Springs, Florida and formerly of Crisfield, MD, Tangier, VA and Baltimore, MD, died Tuesday, February 13, 2024 at her home.  She had made her home in Florida with her daughter and son in law since 2008.

Born in Crisfield on February 22, 1924, she was the only child of Oliver Gandy and Marion Clarke Crockett Gandy.  Her husband, Martin Richard Bestry, Sr., of Baltimore, died April 19, 1996.

She was educated on Tangier Island and finished her senior year of high school in Baltimore following her family's relocation.  She met her future husband at Strayer's Business College, where they both attended.  As World War II began, Edith followed her husband to the many posts he was assigned in the states while he served in the Army as a bomber mechanic.  After the war, they settled back in Baltimore and raised three children together.  Edith worked for Honeywell and Ruberoid as an office manager, and she was supervisor of the Treasury Department of PHH Corporation in Hunt Valley, MD, where she worked for 21 years before her retirement at age 65.  Following her retirement, she served as volunteer bookkeeper, receptionist and typing instructor at All Souls Catholic School in Sanford, FL, where her grandson attended.

She was a member of the First Baptist Church in Crisfield and later the First Baptist Church of Longwood, FL, and enjoyed her many friends in her Sunday school classes.  She also enjoyed traveling with family and friends, reading, sewing, and making hook rug tapestries.

She is survived by two children, Martin Richard Bestry, Jr. and Marsha Ann Malecki and her husband, Leonard Anthony, all of Winter Springs, FL, a grandson, Donovan Pruitt and his wife Ofelia, several cousins, a niece, Mailene Kelly and three dear friends; Gary Dean Frazier, Donnie Frazier and Daniel Caldwell.

In addition to her parents and her husband, she was preceded in death by her son, Roger Wayne Bestry, and her granddaughter, Toni Alexis Pruitt and many beloved aunts, uncles and cousins.

A graveside funeral service and interment will be Friday, February 23, 2024 at 12 Noon at Sunnyridge Memorial Park in Crisfield.