Beatrice Marie Kelley Edwards died in her Seminole, FL home on March 4, 2021, under hospice care, as she fell ill to an inoperable esophageal stricture, discovered in December. Bea was born December 8, 1921 in her family home in Fowler to Lucy Jane Thompson Kelley and Martin Lee Kelley. Growing up on a dairy farm and working at her family’s general store and gas pump at the intersection of Little York and Balmat-Fowler, Bea was a tomboy at heart, who enjoyed outdoor activities. She also enjoyed teaching classes to children at Fowler Baptist Church.
After graduation from Gouverneur High, she attended Potsdam State Teachers College. After earning her degree, her first assignment was to teach first and second grade at the Balmat School. When the United States entered WWII, she and another teacher decided to join the typing pool for the War Department in Washington, D.C.
In Washington, she met Jack Clark Edwards, a dashing Marine from Florida, who was serving duty at the White House. He accompanied her to Fowler for the 1948 Christmas holidays. He had a two year commitment to serve at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul Korea. Only bachelors were eligible for assignment, so Bea waited for his safe return. They were married on March 3, 1951 at Fowler Baptist Church and then headed out through an ice storm for a Florida honeymoon.
Bea was an active Marine Corps wife for 20 years, living on and near bases from Quantico, VA to Oceanside, CA. After Jack’s retirement, they moved to Tallahassee, FL, where they both took courses at FSU, to prepare for teaching careers. When Jack graduated, they moved to Bradenton and later to St. Petersburg, where Jack taught in the local high schools, and Bea volunteered in Girl Scouts and church activities. In their last decade, they moved one final time to Seminole, Florida.
Bea enjoyed gardening and canning, antiquing, refinishing and caning, sewing and quilting, beachcombing and camping. Her favorite times were annual summers spent in the family camp, built by her father, and enjoyed by many generations at Sylvia Lake. Sightseeing all over the North Country, Bea and Jack visited with their extended family, and enjoyed the fellowship of her family’s church of many generations.
Bea was predeceased by Jack , her sister Grace Metzgar, and brothers Howard and Ross. Their only son Clark Sumner Edwards, a Navy veteran, died October 18, 2016. She is survived by daughter Emily Derrough, her husband Richard, granddaughters Anna (Shawn) Duhame, and Jean (Greg) Wilker and four great grandchildren. Nieces and nephews live throughout the U.S. and many share ties through happy times at Sylvia Lake. Bea and Jack have online memorials through A Life Tribute Funeral Care of Gulfport, FL. Clark, Jack and Bea all have gravesites at the Bay Pines National Cemetery.