JC Edwards

JC Edwards, 98, passed away peacefully on Sunday March 17th in Raleigh. He was born in Forks of Ivy in Madison County, North Carolina in 1925; his widowed mother moved her two boys to a farm in Bull Creek, JC made his way to college at Mars Hill, into the United States Navy, and eventually to NC State University and Raleigh, where he settled down, began a business, raised a large and loving family, and will leave a lasting legacy.

His parents were the late Joe Cephas Edwards and Carrie Kent Edwards. JC is preceded in death by his first wife of 55 years, Earline Harris Edwards, his second wife Jenny Peters Edwards, his brother Grover Edwards, and great granddaughter, Stella Marie Liberto. JC is survived by four children: Amy Earline Edwards; Alta Lorraine Edwards Whitt and husband Steve; JC “Eddie,” Edwards, Jr. and wife Cindy; Kent Harris Edwards and wife Keri; ten grandchildren (all boys but nine, he’d say): Carrie Elizabeth Hall; Mary Hall Batten and husband Josh; Jacqueline Earline Whitt; Jessica Lorraine Breazeale and husband Joshua; Jenna Marie Liberto and husband Jeff; James Edwards Brewer and wife Annie; Christine Maria Edwards Whatley; Laura Kathryn Edwards Derringer and husband Bobby; Melissa Quinn Edwards; Faith Ann Edwards Oddon and husband Jeffrey; and eighteen great-grandchildren: Greta Zecchini; Jacob Breazeale; Payton Brewer, Josiah Breazeale, Finley Brewer, Joe Batten, Carter Liberto, Braelyn Whatley, Jaycie Breazeale, William Brewer, Ellen Liberto, Owen Batten, Theo Batten, Parker Brewer, Cole Derringer, Taylor Derringer, Luke Derringer, and Harper Ann Oddon. Many, many more would call him Uncle JC and think of him as family.

JC moved to Raleigh, NC in 1947 to attend the North Carolina State College of Agriculture and Engineering (now North Carolina State University) and earn an engineering degree. On one fateful bus trip back to Raleigh, he met Earline Harris, of Drexel, NC, who was returning to Meredith College. They shared a small-world connection in addition to a spark: she attended the church pastored by L. Bun Olive, whom his mother knew. When they married, JC and Earline became members at Forest Hills Baptist Church, where they worshiped for their entire marriage, where JC and Jenny also were members, and where JC continued to serve and attend for the remainder of his life.

He earned the engineering degree in 1949 and began working as an Engineer for the State Prison Department (later the Department of Corrections) in 1952. He worked there until 1969, when he resigned to begin his own company, JC Edwards Contracting and Engineering, Incorporated (now, JC Edwards, Inc.) He says he bought a wheelbarrow and a truck and got to work. The company’s first job was working on deck improvements at the Old Raleigh Ice Plant. He built the company with his own hands, and you can see the work of those hands, and many others, all over the city of Raleigh today: Baileywick Road Elementary School, West Lake Middle School, the Millbrook High School renovation, Fox Road Elementary School, Crabtree Valley Baptist Church, Pleasant Hill United Church of Christ addition, the Forest Hills Baptist Church administrative building, and too many bridges and infrastructure projects to name.

JC loved scrap metal and coffee and cornbread and working. And candy and chocolate and Coca-cola. And jelly—a spoonful for every bite of biscuit. And sweet Duplin County wine. You might say he had something of a sweet tooth. J(only) C(only) was so proud of his service as a Navy pilot. He slalom water skied and never got his hair wet. He discovered a joy for doing missions work and went on trips to Thailand, South Africa, and Chile. But he found special meaning doing work in Honduras and Kyiv, Ukraine, where he went back many times–frequently with family members. He especially loved teaching people to drive nails and lay block. He showed his 15 year-old grandson up one day in sheer stamina carrying buckets of concrete. He could not sing a lick. He’d take “shortcuts” through the McDonald’s drive-thru before visiting his mother in the nursing home or for lunch or for just about any reason at all. We lost him in London (just for a few hours) one time. He loved his family so very much.

He lived for the last several years with his daughter, Amy, making a new home and a new kind of life in this last season. Lately, his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren accompanied him on many short trips: to Biltmore, to Mars Hill and Bull Creek to see his old stomping grounds, to Wilson, NC to see the whirligigs, to the beach, and even to Texas to see extended family. His grandchildren, most of whom still live nearby, took him to dinner once a month, bringing the great-grands when they could. His great-grandchildren remember him coming to watch their sports games and plays and building things with them, and posing for family pictures with too many people to count. He didn’t really slow down much at all— just maybe shuffled a bit more in the last few years. He was always smiling, never complained, and told anyone who would listen, “well, I look good and I feel good.”

Sometimes people talk about writing a book about their life. JC actually did it (when he was a sprightly 90), and he’d love for you to read it. He titled it My Fabulous Journey (and he’d’ve told you to buy it on Amazon.com!). And what a journey it was. He worked hard and found good fortune at many turns. But he believed every step was God-ordained, and guided, and blessed. And he believed the same hand that guided his life is guiding yours. He’d tell you to take care of people, to love them and to like them, and to give without ceasing to the communities you are part of. Hold tight to family. God is good.

Visitation will be on Thursday, March 21, 5:00-7:00 pm at Brown Wynn Funeral Home, 300 St. Mary’s St., Raleigh.

A funeral service will be held at Forest Hills Baptist Church, 201 Dixie Trail, Raleigh at 12:30 on Tuesday, April 2, with a graveside service to follow at Montlawn Cemetery, Raleigh.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial donations be made in JC’s name to The Ark, the organization in Ukraine where he often did mission work, run by Father’s Care, Inc. a 501(c)(3) non-profit; donate at https://www.fathers-care.org/.