This week, Save the Storks honors the life and legacy of our CEO Diane Ferraro’s birth mother, Ethel “Edie” Lee Parker Avdonin, who passed away on September 25, 2026.
“Edie-Mom,” as Diane affectionately called her, was a quiet, kind, and creative woman who deeply loved her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. She was an artist, a mother, and, as Diane would come to learn, a woman whose courageous decision would change the trajectory of many lives.
Edie-Mom’s Brave Decision
Decades ago, Edie was faced with a choice that lies at the heart of our movement. Edie already had four young sons when she discovered she was unexpectedly pregnant again. She had to make a difficult decision about the future of the baby growing inside her.
So, she drove approximately 90 miles south from her home in Orange County to the Mexican border with a friend who was also facing an unplanned pregnancy. Her friend sadly went through with the abortion, but Edie changed her mind.
Instead, she left the clinic and found an adoption attorney.
Edie-Mom made a courageous choice rooted in love.
She may not have known what her “yes” would mean in that moment, but we know that every woman’s decision in an unexpected pregnancy can have an impact far beyond what she can see.
Edie-Mom made one of the most sacrificial choices a mother can make. She chose to continue her pregnancy and place her daughter for adoption, entrusting her to a family who deeply desired a child and could love and care for the little girl growing inside her.
So, Diane was born.
When she finally shared this story with Diane, it impacted her greatly: “I cried a lot that night after she called to share this news with me. It made the work I do at Save the Storks more urgent than ever before,” says Diane.
Meeting her Baby Girl
Edie-Mom waited 26 years, when Diane would pursue her birth mother through government documents to finally meet the life that she grew for nine months.
Diane lovingly looks back on their first meeting, and the joy and tears they shared as years of love and appreciation were finally shared between a birth mother and her baby.
Over the years, Diane came to know Edie-Mom not only as the woman who had given her life, but as the courageous mother behind the decision.
Edie was born in East Los Angeles, California. She had her first child at 16 and would go on to become the mother of seven. She was baptized in a river in Oregon in the 1980s. She made epic slow-cooked beans. She was incredibly strong, both physically and mentally, enduring pain and the realities of raising children as a single mother.
Her husband, Victor Avdonin, was the love of her life. Victor didn’t have children of his own, but when he married Edie in 1996, he instantly became a father of seven.
Edie was also a business owner, running an alterations shop in Lake Elsinore, California, called Greensleeves. And much like Diane’s adoptive mother, Agnes, who passed away when Diane was just eight years old, Edie-Mom was a talented artist.
“I like to picture them both standing at their easels and palettes with oil paints. Edie-Mom showing her stunning California mountain ranges in various shades of yellow and green. Agnes sharing her majestic beach scenes with turquoise and deep blue. Two moms. Two artists. Living out eternity with our Heavenly Father,” says Diane.
One story can change thousands of lives.
Edie-Mom’s ultimate gift of life continues to give through every life Diane touches. Whether in her own community, where she has become a mother figure to many, or through her powerful work as CEO of Save the Storks, Diane’s life has become part of a legacy Edie could never have fully imagined.
Diane reflects on the legacy of love that Edie-Mom leaves behind: “Her bravery is why I am here on earth, and why I can work at a ministry like Save the Storks that empowers women like her to choose life! Birth moms are heroes!”
If you are facing an unexpected pregnancy but don’t feel ready to parent, adoption is a beautiful option. Edie-Mom’s story reminds us that birth mothers are heroes in every adoption story.
Read more about adoption here.
Remembering Edie
Edie is survived by her children, Johnny Martinez, Ronnie Martinez, Denny Martinez, Tony Martinez, Diane Ferraro, and Brendan Rojas. She was preceded in death by her son, Aaron Rojas, who passed away in 2019.
She leaves behind grandchildren, great-grandchildren, family, and loved ones who will carry her memory forward for generations to come.
