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<p><em>Earl Wayne Edwards</em> the son of Harriet Ann (Tackman) Edwards and Alfred R. Edwards was born in Bradenton, FL, on December 22, 1956. Earl attended Lakeland High School where he was a member of the Student Council, Honor Society, and a multiple varsity sports athlete.</p>
<p>After graduating from high school, Earl entered West Point on an extremely hot day in July of 1974. Having been born and raised in Florida, Earl was better able to adapt to the weather that hot summer than most of his fellow plebes.</p>
<p>During Earl’s plebe and yearling years at West Point, he was a member of Company B-4. In addition to excelling at academics, Earl loved playing handball and spinning records as a disk jockey for the academy’s cadet radio station, WKDT. </p>
<p>In the summer of 1976, Earl had attended the U.S. Army Airborne School at Fort Benning, GA and then went to a tank company as a platoon leader in Texas for Cadet Troop Leader Training. That August, all West Point cadets from the Class of 1978 were returning to school to begin our junior (also known as cow) year. We knew that when we returned from our summer assignments we would be moving from the previous company we had been part of during our freshman and sophomore years, so we were all a bit nervous and excited about the change.</p>
<p>Upon our return, Earl and I were assigned to Company C-1 and we met as roommates on the third floor of Lee Barracks. My initial (and incorrect) impression of Earl Edwards was that he was very aloof and standoffish, but it did not take long for us to become friends. As I was from Long Island, NY, and Earl was from Florida, I will never forget the first time I lit up a cigarette in our room (which was long before there were any rules against smoking) and Earl asked me to leave because he didn’t smoke or enjoy smelling smoke. Needless to say, I never smoked in our room again.</p>
<p>The one thing you could see very clearly and quickly about Earl was how smart he was. Certainly, he was smarter than me. I don't know how to begin to tell you how grateful I was to have him drag me through Electrical Engineering and Fluid Mechanics cow year. Some nights he spent hours “holding court” as our room filled with other cows, all of us trying to get through that day’s homework assignment. Earl never seemed to run out of patience answering the same questions again and again.</p>
<p>In the spring of our senior year, we were able to talk Earl into playing intramural lacrosse for C-1. It didn’t matter that Earl had never seen a lacrosse stick before coming to West Point. All that mattered was that he was fast and liked to hit people. C-1 went on to win the Lacrosse Intramural Brigade Championship that year.</p>
<p>Upon graduation in June 1978, Earl was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Air Defense Artillery. He attended the Officer Basic Course in Fort Bliss, TX, and followed that assignment up by attending the U.S. Army Ranger School at Fort Benning, GA. A fellow C-1 classmate and Air Defense Artillery officer who joined Earl in Ranger School tells the following story: “We were on a particularly long uphill march during the mountain phase of Ranger School, typically miserable. I remember talking to Earl to keep our spirits up during one particularly long and difficult stretch, with him sharing what little food he had with me. A small thing to be sure, but it spoke a lot about his character.”</p>
<p>“Being one of the smartest guys in our ADA Officer Basic Course, Earl was always the guy we looked for to decipher some arcane Army Maintenance SOP or Logistics Manual. During lunches we often met at the gym and played some tough, competitive games of racquetball. That was Earl in a nutshell: smart, tough and compassionate.” </p>
<p>As an Army officer, Earl was stationed in Germany with an Air Defense Artillery unit and served honorably as a leader in the U.S. Army.Upon the completion of his military obligation, Earl returned to Florida where he and his wife Sheri raised a family, (children Erin, Adam and Betsy). As a civilian, Earl continued to serve his country as a contractor for the Department of Defense.</p>
<p>Earl passed away unexpectedly due to an heart attack on Monday morning, April 10, 2017. He is survived by a loving family that includes his three children: Adam W. Edwards (Kelly) of Orlando, Betsy Edwards of Brandon, and Erin Edwards of Denver, CO; and siblings Dave Edwards (Denise) of Temecula, CA, Vic Edwards (Sheryl) of Michigan, Lisa Edwards Stahl (Edward) of Spring Hill, and Dr. John Edwards (Colleen) of Indianapolis, IN. He also leaves behind his former spouse, Sheri Thomas (Peter) of Ooltewah, TN and his two grandchildren, Maxwell and Parker.</p>
<p>He will be missed by all. May he rest in peace knowing he left behind a positive impact on the world.</p>
<p><em>—The Edwards family and classmates</em></p>
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