Earnest "Earnie" H Edwards

Edwards, Earnest (Earnie) H, Jr. of Prattville, Alabama transitioned to his heavenly home June 25, 2023, at the age of 79 following a brief illness. Earnie was born in Eclectic, Alabama on June 23, 1944, to parents Earnest H. Edwards, Sr. and Pearl Levins Edwards. Earnie began his career at Continental Eagle as a draftsman in the Engineering Department while still in college in 1963 and retired 46 years later as the Vice President of Engineering. His job involved travel to many countries across the globe including, Egypt, Israel, Guatemala, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Australia and China. Even today he has maintained friendships via social media with people in some of these countries. He loved his family, his job, and the outdoors; an avid turkey hunter and once an avid fisherman, especially enjoyed the saltwater fishing on the Gulf and the crappie fishing on Lake Martin. He became a Master Gardener in the Class of 2016 and loved to grow asparagus and garlic. For the past twelve and one-half years Earnie has shared his phenomenal expertise weekly with the Daniel Pratt/Continental/Gin Company Archival Preservation Project that has cleaned, cataloged, preserved, properly boxed and moved thousands and thousands of documents and records. Earnie’s phenomenal knowledge of the cotton ginning industry made this project possible as he led novices through 40,000 engineering drawings, innumerable manuals & catalogs and thousands of photos. Earnie had big plans to enjoy his last years living at The Mill, the loft apartments currently in the last phases of construction in downtown Prattville. These apartments were developed from five historical buildings of the Daniel Pratt Gin Company, some dating back to the 1800s. Earnie was lucky to have secured the apartment that was once Daniel Pratt’s office overlooking the falls and he and Lynda were looking forward to moving in within two months. He was preceded in death by this father, Earnest H. Edwards, Sr. killed in WWII in the South of France after surviving the Battle of Normandy when Earnie was a two-month-old infant, his mother Mattie Pearl Levins Kolb, stepfather, Irby Kolb and son Bradley Bigham. He will be lovingly remembered by his wife of 42 years, Lynda Bain Edwards; Son Michael Brent (DeeDee) Edwards, Autaugaville, AL; Daughter Kristen Edwards (Ron) Williams, Ballground, GA; Daughter Tonya Bigham (Shon) Lee, Montgomery, AL and Son Eric (Tracey) Bigham, Chelsea, AL; Sister Sharon Kolb Mills; Grandchildren: Emma (Samuel) Patterson, Savannah, GA; Abigail (Zach) Irtenkauf, Canton, GA; Madison (Austin) Gray, Canton, GA; Carson (Shelby) Edwards, Prattville; Major (Margaret Anne) Lee, Birmingham; Marshall Lee, Charlotte, NC; Gretchen Lee, Ft Worth, TX; BJ (Bek) Bigham, Gadsden, AL; Cody Bigham, Evansville, IN and Great Grandchildren, Stetson Edwards, Dreyson Edwards and Leo Bigham. In lieu of flowers donations may be made to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital or your favorite charity. Funeral arrangements by Prattville Memorial Chapel and Memory Gardens, 841 Fairview Avenue, Prattville, AL on Wednesday, June 28 at 1:00pm. Visitation will begin at 11:30a.m. Grandsons Carson Edwards, Major Lee, Marshall Lee, Sam Patterson, Zach Irtenkauf and Austin Gray will serve as pallbearers.

Earnest "Earnie" H Edwards

June 23, 1944 - June 25, 2023