Earl A. Edwards
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Earl Arque Edwards of Murchison, Texas, age 94, went to join his wife Jackie in Heaven on Saturday, December 26th, 2020. Mr. Earl died due to natural causes at UT Health Athens.
Mr. Earl was born on February 25th, 1926, at home in the Murchison, Texas community, Henderson County, to Elvie Boyd Edwards and Ovie Cloud Edwards. He grew up with a houseful of brothers, Haston, Waymon, Maynard, Loyd, and Elton. Earl was the oldest.
The first school he attended was Shady Grove which he would walk to through the fields and pastures to get to. On the first day of school some of his older cousins egged him on to a wrestling match on the school playground. The superintendent heard the scuffle going on and grabbed Earl by the back of his overalls and broke up the fight. He didn't get into too much trouble but would still get a kick out of telling that story in his later years.
He grew up in the depression era and times were hard. He knew the real meaning of a Hard Candy Christmas. After graduating from Brownsboro High School in 1943, his Daddy bought him a tractor and he started farming. In 1942 he had met his future wife, Jackie Richards, at Brownsboro High School. They also attended Barton's Chapel which was close to where they both lived. They got married July 9th, 1944 and were together 73 years until Jackie's death in October 2017.
In early 1945 during the late stages WWII, Earl was drafted into the U.S. Army. He entered the service in early March and eventually was assigned to the 2nd Battalion Battery A 4th Field Artillery Regiment. He departed for the pacific arena on August 28th, 1945. With a short stopover at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, he headed on to Batangas City, Batangas Province, in the Philippines. While there, he met a Japanese P.O.W. who was a jeweler by trade and he made Earl an engraved watch band out of a military mess tray which he wore for the rest of his life. He was stationed there a little over a year and shipped back to the states and was discharged In December 1946.
After his military service, in 1947 he began his career with Lone Star Producing Company. He started as a roustabout working at their Opelika Gas Plant and worked his way up to Drilling Manager at their Dallas, Texas home office. Later, the name of the company changed to Enserch. As he grew with his company, his family did also. Earl and Jackie had 5 children starting in 1947 with Dana followed by David, Deborah, Delores and Drayton. As was common with oil patch jobs back then, Earl and his family moved several times with stops in Lafayette, LA, Laurel, MS, Pleasanton, TX Eastland, TX back to Pleasanton, Houston, TX, Dallas, TX, and finally back to Athens where it all started. He retired in 1991 as the East Texas District Manager after 44 years of service.
After retirement Earl raised Beefmaster cattle on his farm near Murchison. He enjoyed visiting with his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren at the family farm. Earl was a devout Christian and a member of Barton's Chapel Assemblies of God Church for many years. He served his community as School Board President of the Brownsboro School District. He liked to tell stories of his years growing up about picking cotton in West Texas when he was a little boy, and adventures with his brothers, cousins, aunts and uncles. He and his wife Jackie both came from large families and enjoyed the yearly family reunions. He will be deeply missed by his friends, family, and all who knew him.
Earl is survived by his children Dana and James Thomison of Chandler, TX, David and Evelyn Edwards of Allen, TX, Deborah and Ralph Griffin of Washington, UT, Delores Aycock of Springfield, MO, and Drayton and Jill Edwards of Dallas, TX. Grandchildren, Jamie Boyd, Ty and Trista Thomison, Kimbra Carnahan, Jessica and Derek Northup, Andrew and Amy Edwards, Josh and Haleh Griffin, Justin Griffin, Casey and Amanda Aycock, Cody and Cortney Aycock, and Cooper Aycock and numerous great and great-great granchilren.
Mr. Earl was predeceased by his parents Elvie and Ovie, brother Waymon, Maynard, Haston, Loyd and his son-in-law Chip Aycock. He is survived by his youngest brother Elton Edwards of Hallsville, TX.
There will be a private graveside service with arrangements by Autry's Carroll-Lehr Funeral Home at Oaklawn Memorial Park, Athens, Texas.
If desired, in lieu of flowers, friends can make donations to Barton's Chapel Assembly of God, 13520 CR 3806, Murchison, TX 75778.