Donna Jean Edwards died peacefully after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease. She was born in Sandyville, OH to Lloyd Edgar Clemens and Lucy (Krasowski) Clemens . Magnolia, OH is where Donna spent her childhood, ultimately graduated high school, and returned to visit every year for decades. Typical of small communities, everyone knew everyone in Magnolia. As a student, she got involved in multiple activities with kids from multiple grades...that was what she learned as the only way to make it work. In addition to her extracurricular involvement, she was an excellent student and, upon graduation, received work in quality control at Timken Motor Bearings.
Once her childhood sweetheart, Allan Edwards, returned home from the Marines, they got married. The newlyweds moved to Canton, OH to be closer to her work and his new job with IBM. In 1959 as they started a family, she became a stay-at-home mom and so began a series of promotional moves for Al with IBM to Rochester, MN, Poughkeepsie, NY, and ultimately to Raleigh, NC in 1970. Donna managed the household and coordinated the day-to-day upbringing of their three children.
Drawing upon her small town upbringing, Donna always got involved in numerous ways that built community: through friendships formed around her beloved Quail Hollow neighborhood, through St Philip’s Lutheran Church, through IBM wives bowling leagues, through volunteer caretaking at retirement homes, and diligently maintaining distant relationships with so many friends and relatives through calls, letters, and greeting cards. Donna always remained active and once Al retired they made time to travel to see more of the world, and to spend time with friends and family near and far.
Donna was preceded in death by her parents, her first child, Jeffrey Allan Edwards, and her husband of 59 years, Allan Hamilton Edwards. Surviving relatives include her brother Ronald Clemens of Tacoma WA; a son Jerold Edwards of Somerville, NJ; a daughter Jennifer Dolan of Raleigh, and a grandson Colin Dolan of Raleigh.
A memorial service will be held at Springmoor Retirement Community 1500 Sawmill Rd, Raleigh, NC 27615 on Saturday, September 14th at 2:00pm. Immediately following the service there will be a reception to share memories of our good times with Donna. (If the main lot is full, there is additional parking across Sawmill Road.)
Donna was the fortunate recipient of much loving care and attention as she fought her disease. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial donations be made to provide financial assistance to working caregivers dealing with loved ones requiring adult daycare. A wonderful program is the Ruth Sheets Adult Care Center in Raleigh (memo: “Scholarship Fund”) learn more: ESUMC.ORG
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