In Loving Memory of our Mother
Aileen Affronti

Time cannot steal the treasures that we carry in our hearts,
Nor ever dim the shining thoughts our cherished past imparts.
For the memories of the ones we love still cast a gentle glow,
to grace our days and light our paths, where ever we may go

Ethel Aileen Affronti, age 92, passed away peacefully on November 21, 2020 in Virginia Beach, Virginia, after complications from multiple strokes.  Our family was able to be at her bedside as she took her last breath.  

Aileen was born on July 6, 1928 and was one of eight children, the daughter of loving parents, Creola Bleaker Ledford, and Colon Alonzo Ledford, who was a school principal where she grew up in rural Brevard, Southport, and Harrisburg, North Carolina.

Aileen was able to graduate early from high school, but she decided to stay and graduate with her class as Valedictorian.  She graduated from the Duke University School of Nursing in 1951 and eventually became Head Nurse of a Labor and Delivery Unit at Duke Hospital. 

Aileen was a kind, gentle woman who absolutely adored children.  For many years, she worked in the Washington, DC area at a pediatrician’s office where she received countless hugs and drawings from the children she helped to treat. 

Our Mom had a beautiful voice and sang in the Duke Choir and Nurses Choir.  She often would sing to her young patients to comfort them.  Aileen was the Captain of the Duke Women’s Basketball Team in the early 1950’s where she played point guard (our family is short).

She is predeceased by her husband of 52 years, Dr. Lewis F. Affronti, Sr. 

Aileen would say that her most important accomplishment was caring for her family, her four children, and seven grandchildren.  Aileen is survived by her children:  Dr. John Paul Affronti and wife Brenda; Dr. Lewis Francis Affronti, Jr. and wife Tricia; Dr. Mary Lou Affronti; and Eileen Patricia Geslock and husband Mark; as well as her grandchildren Lewis Francis Affronti, III; Elizabeth Anne McCabe, Melissa Joy Johnston, Charlie B(enjamin) Johnston, Mark Joseph Geslock, Jack Donald Geslock, and Laura Nichole Geslock. She is also survived by her dear brother Robert Baruch Ledford