William D. EDWARDS

EDWARDS, YAGER, CALDWELL, JESSEN, FARNHAM

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 6/13/2007 at 21:16:48

Wright County Monitor
June 14, 2007

William D. (Bill) Edwards, 84, of Clarion, passed away Saturday, June 9, 2007 at Wright Medical Center, Clarion. A funeral service was held Wednesday, June 13th at the United Methodist Church in Clarion. Pastor Mike Druhl officiated the 1:30 p.m. service. Burial will be at Evergreen Cemetery, Clarion. A visitation will be held from 12:30-1:30 p.m. the day of service at the church.

Bill was born July 4, 1922, on a farm in Audubon County, Iowa, the son of Roy and Gretta (Yager) Edwards. Bill traveled extensively and lived in many places during his nearly 85 years. He lived the longest in Clarion, however, moving there in 1971. Soon after he was born, Bill moved with his family, to be with relatives, to a ranch in central Montana. His family stayed there until the height of the Great Depression, returning to Audubon County in 1936. He attended high school in Viola Center and played on the basketball team, graduating in 1940. Bill married his high school sweetheart, Barbara (Caldwell) on November 28, 1941. The young couple drove Route 66 in a 1938 Ford to Burbank, California and began working at Lockheed Aircraft Corporation. One week later Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. Bill continued to work at Lockheed until 1943, when he felt it was his duty to enlist in the Army Air Corps. He went in as an Aviation Cadet and trained as a Bombardier, serving at several bases for the duration of World War II, and was honorably discharged in 1946. While working in a plumbing shop in Aududon, Bill was injured and decided to use the G.I. Bill to enroll at Iowa State University. He graduated with honors four years later, in 1953, with a degree in Agricultural Education. He lived with Barbara and their three children in Pammel Court while in Ames. Bill was a teacher of Vocational Agriculture for one year in Iowa Falls and after that in Shelby-Tenant Schools. He started a farm supply and chemical fertilizer business in Shelby in 1953. The business grew to serve farmers in Shelby, Pottawattamie and Harrison counties. The fertilizer business was sold to Gulf Oil Corporation in 1965 and Bill became an employee of that company. He rose to the position of Regional Manager and lived briefly in Harlan and Forest City. He lived in Shawnee Mission, Kansas and worked in Kansas City, Missouri until 1971. Bill returned to Iowa at that time, settling in Clarion and working as a Farm Manager for Sandage Real Estate and Farm Management. In 1979, he formed Edwards Real Estate with his eldest son. In 1982, he became semiretired from business but continued to stay active, farming and managing his land. He and Barbara traveled extensively in a motor home, touring most of North America and visiting Europe twice. They divided their time between homes in Clarion and Tucson, Arizona for many years.Bill served as Rotary International District Governor and Wright County Republican Chairman. He was also a Mason, Shriner, and American Legion and Iowa State Alumni Association member. Bill was a member of the Clarion United Methodist Church and served on many of its committees.

Left to cherish his memory are his wife, Barbara; one daughter, Ellen Jessen of Johnston; two sons-Paul and wife, Diane of Clarion; Chet and wife, Lynn of Portland, Oregon; six grandchildren; nine great-grandchildren; one sister-Nita Farnham of DeWitt; two brothers-Dale Edwards and wife, Ruth of Audubon; Ron Edwards and wife, Sue of Ankeny. He was preceded in death by his parents; an infant brother, Gale; and one brother, Roydon. Memorial contributions may be made to the Rotary Foundation, United Methodist Church of Clarion or Wright Medical Foundation.