Edward E. Drew, Jr., known as Eddie to family and friends, was born in Emporia, Virginia on May 22, 1947. He was born to Evelyn C. and Edward E. Drew, Sr. Seven and a half years later, they had their second child, Dorothy, or Dottie. His father, Edward Sr., was the principal of the original Stafford Sr. High, presently known as Drew Middle, before working at the Stafford County School Board Office. Eddie’s mother, Evelyn, taught at Falmouth Elementary School when it first opened, but later taught at Drew Middle. Eddie’s little sister, Dottie, grew up to become Dottie Drew Truslow and is currently the principal of Margaret Brent Elementary.
As a youth, Eddie was very artistic, yet very athletic. He enjoyed playing basketball on Norview High School’s team. He also played baseball on a team that was similar to Parks and Rec. As a teen, he was a lifeguard at Ocean View on the Chesapeake Bay during the summers. In the Norfolk area, where he lived at the time, a relatively large snow storm hit them. Having been inspired, he created an incredibly detailed snow gorilla. His artistic abilities attracted people from miles away to come and view his masterpiece!
While living at home in Norfolk, he chose to attend Old Dominion University. His father had been a coach and was an assistant principal at the time. Eddie’s mother, Evelyn, was attending ODU at the same time as he was, and majoring in education. Educational careers seemed to run in the family, and Eddie wanted to follow his family’s educational tradition.
Upon graduating from college, he taught P.E. and Social Studies at Gayle Middle School, and also coached football. Applying his artistic abilities to his teaching, he would create caricatures of the teachers to advertise a basketball game between teachers and students.
While at Gayle, he was appointed as the assistant principal of the new middle school, which had previously been Stafford Sr. High School. However, he was never able to fill the position due to being tragically killed at a spring dance at Gayle Middle in 1974 after a police officer’s gun misfired. The new middle school was later named in his honor, Edward E. Drew, Jr. Middle School.
A special thanks to Mrs. Dottie Drew Truslow whose help was significant in writing this biography.
