Edith Metz, World War II and Coast Guard veteran, dies

Edith Metz, a World War II veteran who served in the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps and then the Coast Guard, died Jan. 18 at the VA Medical Center in Northport.

Metz, who gave up her aspiration to become a professional sculptor to raise three children, was 94. She had lived at the medical center for the past five years.

Born Edith Fay Eisinger in the Bronx, she attended Walton High School for Girls. She enlisted as a private in the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps in late 1942.

She joined the Coast Guard in fall 1944, serving until June 1946. She was a storekeeper second-class stationed at several bases along the East Coast, the family said.

She met her husband, David, on a blind date, and they married in 1953.

"My mom and dad were world travelers before and after they got married," said her daughter Vicki Metz of Bayville. "They visited England, Russia, Egypt, Israel, Greece, Mexico and other exotic places. My mom studied sculpting at the Sorbonne in Paris. She gave up her dream of being a professional sculptor to make our lives full and rich."

Her daughter described her as "the best shopper I ever knew. She taught me how to bargain-hunt."

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The couple lived in the Canarsie section of Brooklyn before moving to Long Island in 1958 and buying their first house, in Bellmore.

While raising their children, she worked at an Army base in Bellmore and took other occasional jobs because she was a fast typist and stenographer, her daughter said.

Metz was also a longtime volunteer for the American Cancer Society and volunteered for local politicians.

Her husband of 56 years, a speech therapist and drama teacher in the Levittown school district, died in 2009.

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Edith Metz was buried Jan. 20 at Calverton National Cemetery next to her husband, a Navy veteran.

Besides her daughter, she is survived by a son, Christopher of Rockville Centre; another daughter, Holly Metz of Hoboken, N.J.; a sister, Alva Fromm of North Bellmore; and three grandchildren.

The family asks that donations be made to support veterans living at the Northport VA Medical Center, Attention: Voluntary Services (135), 79 Middleville Rd., Northport, NY 11768.