
FAIRFIELD COUNTY – Esther Lee Lyles Wilson, 104, affectionately known as Eula, quietly slipped away in the early morning hours of Jan. 6, 2025, responding to God’s call to leave this earthly life and enter her eternal Heavenly home.

Eula, the fourth of six children of the late Eli and Blanche Davis McConnell Lyles, was born in Township 1 of Fairfield County, SC, which included Shelton and parts of the Blair community, on Aug. 21, 1920. She grew up on Lyles Ford on the banks of the Broad River in Blair where her parents farmed. The family later moved to Shelton where she spent most of her life.
Being reared in a Christian home, she gave her life to Christ at an early age, joining and becoming a lifetime member of Weeping Mary Baptist Church, becoming one of the longest serving Mothers of the Church.
She was educated in Fairfield County at the Webb School in Blair and St. Elizabeth School in Shelton, obtaining a 7th grade education. At the urging of her sister Annie, she attended night school and obtained her GED certificate through one of the first Adult Education classes offered at McCrorey-Liston School in Blair, beginning in the late 60s and/or early 70s. She graduated with her daughter Sharon in the class of 1972.
She was married to Woodrow (Roe) Wilson, someone she had known for most of her life, for more than 33 years, the marriage being resolved due to his untimely death in 1977. They’d briefly lived in Baltimore, MD, after marrying but returned to Shelton where they started their family of nine children.
While she spent most of her working years at home providing for her family and caring for her grandchildren, and sometimes great nieces and nephews in the summer, she eventually entered the workforce through the Green Thumb program in Fairfield County. She worked in the McCrorey-Liston School cafeteria for several years. She later worked for the Chester County Schools cafeteria program where she worked for five years.
In her middle years, she was active with the Fairfield County Council on Aging and the Sympathy Club while also helping others in the community. She enjoyed quilting, canning fruits and vegetables, and cooking. She travelled frequently with the Senior Citizens’ groups, taking many long bus trips. She enjoyed visiting with her brothers and family in Baltimore, MD. One of her favorite people to travel with was her sister-in-law, Pinkie.
She has quite the stories behind some of their trips. Part of her travel included attending nearly every one of her Feaster-Lyles Family Reunions from 1978 through 2018. While visiting one of her sons in West Virginia, she climbed onto a plateau of the Penn-Mar Mountains. As she descended the plateau of the mountain, she exclaimed “I’ve been to the mountain top!”
In her early 60s, Eula told her family that she’d asked the Lord to let her live to be 100. Well, he blessed her with more than she’d asked. At 100, she was thriving. Still traveling, still cooking, and keeping it all together. By now, not only was she the last of her eight siblings, but also the last of the 35 third generation members of her Feaster-Lyles clan, a family reunion established in 1976 in honor of her enslaved grandmother, Rachel Foot(e). She had also outlived three of her nine children.
She lived through the Covid-19 Pandemic without being affected and, amid it all, was proud to celebrate her birthday with a 100-car parade on the ball field where her mother once lived, followed by a 100-balloon release with many families and friends in attendance. She received a Resolution from the SC State Senate by then-Senator Mike Fanning recognizing her attributes as a centenarian.
Eula’s family knows that God answers prayers for He answered her prayer by giving her more than she asked. He blessed her to be 104, allowing her to be the oldest person in the Shelton community and to be forever loved by many who called her Mama.
Through her 100-plus years, she not only witnessed many adverse events but far greater things, among which were to bear witness to the election and inauguration of the first Black President of the United State of America, Barack Hussein Obama, and watch a full solar event on her 97th birthday.
Eula will forever be cherished with love and fond memories by her six surviving children: Cynthia Jones, Jacqueline Gantt, Sharon Edrington, Ira (Sarah), Jamie, and Lloyd Wilson; 15 grandchildren, 25 great grandchildren and 1 great-great grandchild; 17 loving nieces, 17 doting nephews and a host of other loving extended family members, including one she considered a special cousin, Ray Bowman, and Friends. She will surely be missed by all.
What a journey we’ve experienced through the life and eyes of this centenarian blessed only by God! A truly strong woman of God.