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Eula Radcliffe and William Maner meets with Virginia Lt. Governor Richard J Davis during his trip to the James City County Democratic Party Headquarters.
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Siblings Kevin and Rosalind flip through a collection of newspaper clippings in a family scrapbook that showcases the work their mother, Eula, did within the community.
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Eula Radcliffe spent a decade serving as a scout leader in Grove.
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Kevin Radcliffe and Rosalind Dodd, two of Eula’s children showcase memorabilia from Eula’s days leading scouts.
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Awards and recognition reflecting a life of civil and community service.
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When you’ve driven down Route 60 past Busch Gardens, did you ever notice the signs that say “Eula Radcliffe Memorial Highway” and wonder who that was?
The answer is: a very interesting woman, who drove up and down Route 60 many times on her mission to engage the community!
“When someone of great importance to the community passes, this is a way we remember them. The hope is by providing this recognition of their contributions, we start a conversation about their life,” said John McGlennon, a government professor at The College of William & Mary, a current member of the James City County Board of Supervisors, and a friend of Eula Radcliffe.
Part of that conversation is continued by her children, with two children remaining in Williamsburg, son Kevin Radcliffe, and daughter Rosalind Dodd. They see her legacy now, 20 years after her passing, as a “community connector.”
“She would see a need, and gather people to make it happen,” said Kevin.
“She probably didn’t realize all she was getting done.
Everybody knew ‘Miss Eula,’ and she was real direct about asking you for what was needed. Whether it was money or rides or scouting uniforms, she found a way to get it,” Dodd said.
Born Eula Gay Wynn in 1930 in Prince George, over the James River, into a family with 13 children, she learned the hard work of feeding a family and working a farm. Eula was the 12th child and came to Williamsburg in 1944 to live with one of her older sisters and attend Bruton Heights School. She married Edward Radcliffe, who worked at the Naval Weapons Station, in 1947 and had five sons and a daughter.
William Bryant interviewed Eula Radcliffe in 1981 and wrote a five-page profile compiled into a collection called “Williamsburg Profiles,” including this gem about Raymond Rice, a local community leader:
“Among the many notable things Rice did, two are worth noting here: 1. He started the Boy Scout troop in Grove. 2. He talked Eula Radcliffe into becoming a Cub Scout den mother.”
So, one of Mr. Rice’s achievements was activating the force of nature that Eula Radcliffe was, and many people in Grove would be swept up in her enthusiasm—her gusto for scouting,
for politics, for taking care of her neighbors—it was contagious. It was 1955 when Eula’s oldest son Glenn joined the Cub Scouts and three years later, Raymond Rice passed away. She decided to heft his civic burden onto her shoulders and began her decades of service as a scouting leader in Grove.
“She cared about people and wanted them to do better, especially children. Every boy in the neighborhood was in Scouts… because Miss Eula said so,” Kevin said.
Her children still have her Boy Scouts of America district level Award of Merit and the Silver Fawn citation for “distinguished service to boyhood” which is the highest award given to volunteer Scout leaders.
“It put structure in their lives, all kinds of camps and jamborees and events. This extended to all the neighborhood kids, including building a playground and running a summer food program,” Dodd said.
In addition, she served as the secretary of the Grove Recreation Association and became the supervisor for the summer recreation program. Her enthusiasm grew and she became involved in activities centered on her community: her family, her neighbors, the city and county and the Commonwealth of Virginia.
“[I go] to get to know the public officials, to be aware of what’s going on in the community. A lot of us sit back and criticize but we don’t know how government functions. It’s not a magic act, producing decisions out of thin air, but a complicated problem-solving process and you can’t influence what’s being done until you get involved,” Eula said in the interview with Bryant.
Miss Eula practiced what she preached and regularly attended School Board and Board of Supervisors meetings. In the late 1960s, she was appointed to the board of the Grove Community Action Organization to educate people about their civic and social and political responsibility, encouraging voter registration and attendance at public governmental meetings. She became a Notary Public, in response to a community need, to certify documents (including political petitions) and be a person who could help provide instruction and guidance.
When he arrived at the college as a professor, McGlennon met Eula and he said, “She was my political godmother.”
“She was quiet, but thoughtful and she listened carefully to what people said. She evaluated whether you had a sincere interest in improving the community or if your interest was more transactional. If she felt you were sincere, she wanted to help you to better understand and she was a tremendously effective supporter after you won her trust,” McGlennon said.
Her son Kevin said, sometimes that meant holding elected officials and candidates accountable. “It didn’t matter what party you were from, she would ask you directly ‘What are you going to do about it? What’s going to help the county? What’s going to help the people of Grove?” he said.
“She pushed elected officials to support policies that helped people, especially African Americans, in this area. She drew attention to a group of citizens who’d been underserved and sometimes badly treated,” McGlennon said.
It wasn’t just politics, but a commitment to community that drove her. She was a volunteer with children and the school district, and Little Zion Baptist Church; she started a scholarship fund named after local educator Nathaniel
Reid. On a lengthy list of commitments, she served on boards for the American Cancer Society, the Community Action Agency, the Colonial Services Board and the League of Women Voters. Her children have inherited some of these civic activities, including the Clean County Commission, the Community Action Agency and Parks and Recreation and church life.
Her life philosophy was to get her housework out of the way early in the day, because “Somebody might need me.” Miss Eula was always ready to help.
When she died on November 30, 1999, it was a shock to the entire community. The headline on the Virginia Gazette’s front page read: “Eula Radcliffe Remembered for Array of Public Service. She was lauded as “a real go getter,” “a real gem” and “a dynamic behind the scenes leader.”
In the 2000 Session of the Virginia General Assembly, a joint resolution was presented in her honor, noting “with sadness the passing of a distinguished Virginian, Eula W. Radcliffe” as “an expression of the General Assembly’s great respect for her memory.” In that same session, a bill was introduced to designate U.S. Route 60 in James City County the “Eula W. Radcliffe Memorial Highway” and patroned by Delegate George Grayson and Senator Tommy Norment. Grayson passed away in 2015, but Nancy Rodrigues, who worked with him for many years said this: “Mrs. Eula Radcliffe was the definition of “civic engagement.” No one worked harder for the Grove District in James City County than Mrs. Radcliffe. She was amazing to watch and a mentor to anyone whose heart was in the right place in serving his or her community.”
“Eula was the matriarch of the Grove community’s civic engagement on so many local issues. I first met her in 1987 when I was going door-to-door running for the James City County Board of Supervisors” Norment said.
Today Miss Eula’s family includes 14 grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren, and her legacy is one of action and community care, with an emphasis on doing what you can for others.