Obituary of Joan-C. Edwards

Edwards, Joan C., of Huntington and Fort Lauderdale, FL died Sunday, May 7, 2006 in Cabell Huntington Hospital. Born in London, England, in 1918 and raised in New Orleans, Joan Edwards cut short a promising career as a jazz singer to move to Huntington in 1937 with her new husband, James F. ?Edwards. During her 54-year marriage, Mrs. Edwards became a partner in her husband's business enterprises, including racing ?thoroughbreds internationally and working with contractors and crews to revamp the couple's four horse racing tracks. After ?assisting her husband with the Edwards ?family's mattress business, NAMACO ?Industries, she ultimately became its chief executive officer, overseeing three factories. After James Edwards' death in 1991, she was instrumental in implementing his vision to create a cancer center at Cabell ?Huntington Hospital, medical student ?scholarships at Marshall University, a ?conservatory at the Huntington Museum of Art, and a retirement living center through the West Virginia Diocese of the Episcopal Church. A noted philanthropist, Mrs. ?Edwards personally donated more than $22 million to Marshall University and its medical school, which was named in her honor in 2000. Her individual contributions to the ?university have supported growth in its ?athletics and arts programs, the creation of a jazz studies program, the establishment of the Susan Edwards Drake Alzheimer's Care Center, the creation of a children's cancer center within the Edwards Comprehensive Cancer Center, and the establishment of an operating endowment for the cancer center. Mrs. Edwards received the Regent's Award of the American College of Healthcare ?Executives for her contributions to health care. She also was inducted into Marshall's Lewis College of Business Hall of Fame, made an honorary alumnus of the School of Medicine, awarded the Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Marshall, and inducted into the Huntington Wall of Fame. The ?daughter of the late William Cavill and Louise Mae Harris Cavill, Mrs. Edwards in addition to her husband James was preceded in death; son, Charles, and sister, Connie White. She is survived by two daughters, ?Susan E. Drake and Jean E. Ripley of ?Huntington; five grandchildren; seven great-grandchildren and two nephews, Jack ?Hanemann, and his wife, Patty, of Saint ?Francisville, LA and Bill Hanemann of Pearlington, MS. Services will be held 2:30 p.m. Thursday, May 11, 2006 at Trinity Episcopal Church, 520 11th Street, Huntington by The Rt. Rev. W. Michie Klusmeyer and The Very Rev'd R. Kevin Kelly. Special music will start at 2:00 p.m. at the church. Interment will ?follow in Rome Cemetery, Rome, OH. Friends may call Wednesday from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Klingel-Carpenter Mortuary. Expressions of sympathy may be made to Hospice of Huntington Hospice House, P.O. Box 464, Huntington, WV 25709. Family guestbook at www.klingelcarpenter.com.