Bobby Edwards

Family, friends, and acquaintances of Bobby Edwards knew him as a friendly, energetic, and creative man, and his compassionate nature always shone through, revealing his charm, warmth, and playful demeanor. He was warmhearted, gentle, and organized in all the things he sought to accomplish.

Bobby, and his twin brother Billy, were born December 14th, 1940, in Johnston County, North Carolina, to parents Talmadge and Polly Edwards. Bobby grew up with eight siblings: Ruby, Ray, Raymond, Rachel, James, Billy, Glen, and Doug. When Bobby was a young boy his family relocated from Johnston County to the New Bern area. They originally moved to Bridgeton, but then relocated to Trent Woods where they lived for many years.

Bobby struggled in school, and always said that he only learned one thing in school -- a poem, “Trees”, by Joyce Kilmer, which remained his favorite throughout his life. Bobby ended up leaving school at a young age to work full time to help his family. He was an extremely hard worker, and always dependable.

On October 15th, 1960, Bobby married Mary Frances Hill, at the home of their pastor in Bridgeton, North Carolina. Over the next several years, Bobby worked as an electrician in Beaufort, South Carolina, before returning back to New Bern where he made a home for his family in the Spring Garden neighborhood.

Bobby’s compassionate nature translated to being a good father to his children. In August 1961, Bobby became a father to his son Gerald, and then in 1967, to his daughter Tammy.

While the family was in Spring Garden, Bobby spent several years working as an electrician up and down the East Coast, from Maryland to Georgia. Some of the family’s fondest memories included traveling with him while he worked in the summertime. They would take their camper and enjoy different campgrounds and vacation spots. Bobby loved vacationing so much that he eventually bought a "River House" in Crystal Beach, near Blount’s Creek, in 1970. Crystal Beach was Bobby's happy place; he loved fishing and floundering, and all water sports, while watching his family all together enjoying the river. Some other of his favorite vacation spots were Myrtle Beach and Disney World.

Shortly after the death of his father Talmadge in 1973, Bobby stopped traveling for work and returned home to start his own business, under the name "Handyman Bob". Many around town still know and remember him by this name. Bobby took pride in his work, building houses and doing electrical work, and he had a mind for engineering anything he could imagine. In addition to running his own business and working on various projects, he also worked in a maintenance position for Spring Branch Farms for over 25 years.

Bobby accomplished a great deal in his life, but his proudest single achievement was earning the title of “Papa”. He had seven grandchildren -- Emily, Amanda, Alan, Mary Beth, Alexandria, Anna, and Addison. Bobby especially enjoyed being the life of the party, playing pranks, having fun, and making the children smile. He would dress in silly costumes, or as a scary monster, but his favorite was to dress as Santa Claus. Christmas was always Bobby's favorite holiday and he worked and planned to make sure each Christmas was special. He would decorate the yard with lights and blow up decorations and tried to make every year bigger than the last. His goal was to make Christmas magic -- he especially made sure that all of the wish-list items on Santa's list were built, assembled, and under the tree on Christmas morning for his grandchildren, and, later, his great-grandchildren.

He was a strong man who worked hard, but he was compassionate and warm- hearted, someone who truly cared for others, as his reputation reflected in both his community and his family. Always willing to lend a helping hand throughout his life, Bobby was a gregarious and enthusiastic man, generous in sharing his personal attributes, giving and helping those he knew and loved. He was imaginative, creative, tender-hearted, and easy to get along with. Bobby left behind him a legacy of life-long friendships and cherished memories.

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Eulogy given by granddaughter Amanda Edwards

When you’re little, you always see your grandparents as special, like they walk on water. Thing is, our papa actually did. You’ll hear these stories from other folks, but it’s stories like these, either experienced or passed down, that I’ll always remember about Papa. But the great thing about all the stories you’ll hear and memories we have of our loved ones is not just that they they’re nice to look back on, but they also teach us things. Long story short, this walking on water story, in particular, taught me that when you see a snake, you high tail it in the other direction, as fast as you can. But when I think back about the memories of my papa, I realize that they taught me a lot of life lessons.

One of the first lessons I learned from Papa was that it’s never too late to change your life. We were both baptized on April 17th, 1994. I, a young 6 year-old, was just starting to understand spirituality and the importance of salvation. Although sincere in my intentions, I thought this was just something you did when you grew up and and were old enough to understand. However, he was an example that even at 53, you can still make a decision that would change the course of your life. Because of this decision, we can be confident that we’ll all see him again one day.

Another thing he taught us was that there can be beauty in toughness. As most of you know, he was a hard worker, doing a lot of manual labor with his hands, usually outside. But he could draw and paint just as beautiful as any anyone I’ve ever seen. I remember going down to their river place once and he had painted an electric panel cover with a lighthouse scene. I remember being so amazed that this man, who I always considered tough and rugged, with calloused hands that showed his hard work, could paint something so delicately and beautifully. Even the act itself, painting a scene on a utility object, showed his ability to create loveliness where none existed.

Finally, he taught us all how to laugh. Here, I really can’t name one memory, because he laughed so much. Whether it was picking on somebody, usually grandma, or laughing with everyone at the ever-crowded dinner table, he always brought humor and lightheartedness to any situation. He wasn’t one of those people that just kind of giggled because everyone else was laughing or just chuckled a little and then moved on. He laughed with his entire body. Every inch of him from his face to his toes would wrinkle up and shake with joy. He never stopped himself or tried to reign it in, he would just go with it. And the sound of his laugh was just the best.

Through these memories and so many more, we learned a lot, even if it’s not necessarily what Papa intended. But most importantly, these lessons will be things that we pass on to our children, preserving his memory. In this way, he will be with us always.

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Eulogy given by granddaughter Emily Abner

Over the past few days someone asked me to think about my favorite memory of my papa. So I began to reminisce all of my memories. And I realized my papa was a rich man, oh so rich. No, he was not a wealthy man, but he was rich with love. He shared that love with all around him. He shared it most by his giving, whether it be giving his time, his knowledge or material items, he gave.

When I was a little girl, I wanted a playhouse not your typical playhouse. But a human size one. One that had electricity and I could walk-in and play. Today people call them tiny houses and actually live in them. I begged for that playhouse and my Papa built it. He did not go to a store and purchase one, but he built it, by hands and sweat and love. I’m not sure how long it took, or even when he found the time. He never even took credit for it, he let some jolly old man take that. Early Christmas morning, I was the happiest little girl.... all because of my Papa.

As I became an adult and had children of my own, he carried this same love for them as well. A few years ago, on Christmas Eve, at 1:00 am Papa and I were in his building doing the same thing for my children. Putting gifts together and making sure they were perfect. We spent two hours out there that Christmas Eve, and never once did he complain, quite the opposite actually. He was so excited to see the kids face on Christmas when they opened their gifts.

The twinkle in his eyes and the way his whole body shook when he laughed are things that I will never forget, but if you ask me my favorite memory of my Papa, it’s his love.

His love for all his family.