1927
William
2008
William Edwards
September 17, 1927 — February 28, 2008
Memorial services for William (Bill) Lowell Edwards, age 80, of Minneapolis, MN, and formerly of Milbank, SD, Spearfish, SD, and San Francisco, CA, will begin at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, June 22, 2008, at the Emanuel-Patterson Funeral Home in Milbank. The Reverend Mark Phillips of the Central United Methodist Church in Milbank will officiate. Bill died on Thursday, February 28, 2008, at the Methodist Hospital in St. Louis Park, Minnesota. The organist will be Elaine Hallberg. There will be no visitation. Burial will be in the Milbank City Cemetery.
Bill was born on September 17, 1927, in Lead, SD, the oldest child of Clifford and Lucille Edwards. He graduated from Lead High School in 1945. Bill attended school at Lead from kindergarten through high school and graduated in 1945, the same year that WW II ended. After completing his first year of college at the University of SD in Vermillion, he enlisted in the army because his age group was subject to the draft. Bill went by train from Deadwood to Fort Crook in Omaha, NE, for induction. Later he went to Fort Riley, KS, for shots and finally to Ft. Lewis, WA, for basic training. Shortly before Christmas of 1946, he boarded a troop ship in Oakland, CA, for a thirty day Pacific crossing. They stopped at Yokohama, Japan and at Manila, Philippines, before back tracking to Okinawa where he was stationed from 1946 to 1948. He advanced to Tech Sergeant 4 while he was there as part of the occupation forces and delivered mail. He also played the piano at the officer's club and the organ in the chapel. He was discharged at Camp Stoneman, Martinez, CA.
Bill decided to attend Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon, his sophomore year under the G.I. Bill. After that year, he transferred to the University of California in Berkley. He graduated with a BA degree in 1952. He fondly remembered hearing Eleanor Roosevelt speak there.
After graduation, he lived in San Francisco and worked for thirty-one years at the General Office of Pacific Intermountain Express (PIE), a large trucking company where he used his artistic talent. He was one of the members of the Executive Board and served a year as a Steward's Council Officer, and was a member of two negotiating committees. He was the Chief Steward at PIE for many years. In 1983, PIE merged with the Ryder Truck Lines of Jacksonville, FL. The California general office closed putting 400 employees out of work. Bill received an early pension there while looking for a new job at the age of fifty-five.
When Bill found out that if one could type forty-five words per minute they might get a job with the federal government, he went to a school to learn to type. When he was ready, he took the Civil Service Exam at the Federal Building in San Francisco and passed with a high score. He was given a full-time position in budgets with the National Park Service. At first he worked in the Federal Building and later at Fort Mason near the San Francisco Bridge. He worked for the National Park Service for thirteen years.
Bill retired in December of 1995, at the age of sixty-eight, and returned to South Dakota to stay with his mother who needed assistance in her home in Milbank. His mother died in August of 1999. Bill helped with the sale of her home and property.
After a brief trip to California, he decided to return to the Black Hills where he was born and raised and moved to an apartment in Spearfish, SD, in November of 2000. He enjoyed being near some high school and other friends in nearby Lead. He was raised in the Presbyterian Church there and accepted Jesus into his heart as a teenager. His health declined while living there. Bill was helped by a friend who Bill aided with finances so the friend could graduate from college.
In October of 2004, sister Marj and her husband moved him to Minneapolis so they could help him with his many medical needs. He had Parkinson's disease, diabetes, and macular degeneration in both eyes. He moved into an assisted living apartment at Chapel View Augusta in Hopkins, MN. After he broke his second hip in 2006, he was transferred to their nursing care center in the adjoining building.
Those who knew Bill would describe in terms like kind, generous, intelligent, thoughtful, industrious, artistic, reliable and caring. His family and friends will miss him and treasure their memories of him.
He is survived by his sister Arlene Johnson of Alexandria, MN; sister Marjory Maier and husband John, of Minneapolis, MN; his brother Dr. Robert Edwards, MD, of Waianae, Hawaii; and his brother Richard Edwards of Sioux Falls, SD; and several nieces, nephews, cousins, and many friends.
Bill was preceded in death by his father Clifford in 1974 at age 70 and his mother Lucille in 1999, at age 94. They owned Edwards Drug Store in Milbank.
Bill was born on September 17, 1927, in Lead, SD, the oldest child of Clifford and Lucille Edwards. He graduated from Lead High School in 1945. Bill attended school at Lead from kindergarten through high school and graduated in 1945, the same year that WW II ended. After completing his first year of college at the University of SD in Vermillion, he enlisted in the army because his age group was subject to the draft. Bill went by train from Deadwood to Fort Crook in Omaha, NE, for induction. Later he went to Fort Riley, KS, for shots and finally to Ft. Lewis, WA, for basic training. Shortly before Christmas of 1946, he boarded a troop ship in Oakland, CA, for a thirty day Pacific crossing. They stopped at Yokohama, Japan and at Manila, Philippines, before back tracking to Okinawa where he was stationed from 1946 to 1948. He advanced to Tech Sergeant 4 while he was there as part of the occupation forces and delivered mail. He also played the piano at the officer's club and the organ in the chapel. He was discharged at Camp Stoneman, Martinez, CA.
Bill decided to attend Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon, his sophomore year under the G.I. Bill. After that year, he transferred to the University of California in Berkley. He graduated with a BA degree in 1952. He fondly remembered hearing Eleanor Roosevelt speak there.
After graduation, he lived in San Francisco and worked for thirty-one years at the General Office of Pacific Intermountain Express (PIE), a large trucking company where he used his artistic talent. He was one of the members of the Executive Board and served a year as a Steward's Council Officer, and was a member of two negotiating committees. He was the Chief Steward at PIE for many years. In 1983, PIE merged with the Ryder Truck Lines of Jacksonville, FL. The California general office closed putting 400 employees out of work. Bill received an early pension there while looking for a new job at the age of fifty-five.
When Bill found out that if one could type forty-five words per minute they might get a job with the federal government, he went to a school to learn to type. When he was ready, he took the Civil Service Exam at the Federal Building in San Francisco and passed with a high score. He was given a full-time position in budgets with the National Park Service. At first he worked in the Federal Building and later at Fort Mason near the San Francisco Bridge. He worked for the National Park Service for thirteen years.
Bill retired in December of 1995, at the age of sixty-eight, and returned to South Dakota to stay with his mother who needed assistance in her home in Milbank. His mother died in August of 1999. Bill helped with the sale of her home and property.
After a brief trip to California, he decided to return to the Black Hills where he was born and raised and moved to an apartment in Spearfish, SD, in November of 2000. He enjoyed being near some high school and other friends in nearby Lead. He was raised in the Presbyterian Church there and accepted Jesus into his heart as a teenager. His health declined while living there. Bill was helped by a friend who Bill aided with finances so the friend could graduate from college.
In October of 2004, sister Marj and her husband moved him to Minneapolis so they could help him with his many medical needs. He had Parkinson's disease, diabetes, and macular degeneration in both eyes. He moved into an assisted living apartment at Chapel View Augusta in Hopkins, MN. After he broke his second hip in 2006, he was transferred to their nursing care center in the adjoining building.
Those who knew Bill would describe in terms like kind, generous, intelligent, thoughtful, industrious, artistic, reliable and caring. His family and friends will miss him and treasure their memories of him.
He is survived by his sister Arlene Johnson of Alexandria, MN; sister Marjory Maier and husband John, of Minneapolis, MN; his brother Dr. Robert Edwards, MD, of Waianae, Hawaii; and his brother Richard Edwards of Sioux Falls, SD; and several nieces, nephews, cousins, and many friends.
Bill was preceded in death by his father Clifford in 1974 at age 70 and his mother Lucille in 1999, at age 94. They owned Edwards Drug Store in Milbank.