ANNIE EDWARDS

Posted

Funeral services for Annie Ruby Burgess Edwards will be held at noon on Friday at Jordan Chapel Freewill Baptist Church in Olanta with Bishop Kenneth L. Gibson, pastor, officiating. Interment will follow at the church cemetery.

The public may view from 2 to 8 p.m. today at Palmer Memorial Chapel, 304 S. Main St., Sumter.

The family will also receive friends from 6 to 8 p.m. today.

Annie Ruby Burgess Edwards, widow of Achious H. Edwards, transitioned on Saturday, June 23, 2018, at her home in Lynchburg.

She was a daughter of the late John David Burgess Sr. and Annie Bessie Jones Burgess. She was educated at Rosenwald School (St. John School) in Sumter County and was a graduate of Eastern High School Class of 1968.

Mrs. Edwards was a lifelong member of Jordan Chapel Freewill Baptist Church and served in many capacities including Sunday school secretary, Missionary Society, senior choir, mother's board and trustee board member. She was employed as a farmer, nursing assistant, a substitute teacher in Sumter School District 2 and owner of Edwards Florist in Lynchburg. Mrs. Edwards received numerous state and national awards for her volunteer work with the Green Thumb program and the Shiloh Community Center.

She was preceded in death by a son, Thaddeus Edwards; a grandson, Herbert Edwards; four sisters; and two brothers.

Survivors include six children, Charles (Ila) Edwards of Lynchburg, Mae E. Edwards (David) Wells of Columbia, Almeta Edwards-Fleming of Olanta, Douglas M. (Deidre) Edwards of Decatur, Georgia, twin daughters, Vernessa R. Edwards (Mitchell) Joyce of McDonough, Georgia, and Verlencia R. Edwards (Darryl) Johnson of Sumter; 11 grandchildren; 16 great-grandchildren; three great-great-grandchildren; two sisters, Virginia Burgess and Valerie G. (Bobby) Woods, both of Olanta; a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, in-laws and friends.