Monday, January 1, 2018

Obituary – Arloa Edwards 1933-2017

Arloa Maxine (Hendren) Edwards, daughter of Willis and Valda (Loy) Hendren, was born on November 10, 1933, in Harrison County, Missouri, and passed away at the family home on December 25, 2017, at the age of 84 years.

She attended all 12 years of school at Ridgeway, graduating in 1951. Lyle Edwards was in her class, and they started dating their sophomore year of high school. They were married January 12, 1952, at the home of minister O. D. Hedges in Martinsville.  Arloa’s brother and sister-in-law, James and Norma Sue Hendren, stood up with them as witnesses. Larry and Joanne Baker, good friends and classmates, also got married that day and Lyle and Arloa were their witnesses. Lyle and Arloa honeymooned in Cameron, Missouri. They were married for 65 years and 11½ months. For all but six months, they lived on Lyle’s family farm where he was born and raised. Their three children—Peggy, Don, and Ron—were raised on this farm located a few miles northwest of Brooklyn.

After high school graduation and for a short time after she was married, Arloa worked as the Ridgeway Co-op bookkeeper. Later she worked for White Auto Supply in Bethany awhile, and she worked 23 years in the P. M. Place Company office before retiring. She did volunteer work for the Harrison County Genealogy office, typing all the names for the first publication of Harrison County’s high school graduates through the years.

Lyle and Arloa and their children took several trips to California to visit Lyle’s mother who lived there. They liked to camp, so always took a camper, and they usually stopped at the Cheyenne Rodeo. After retiring, they took several trips to places from coast to coast. They both enjoyed camping and meeting people rather than staying at a motel. Arloa’s favorite trips were going to the ocean and beaches. Her favorite beach was Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. They also went to the Texas Valley several times in the winter where they enjoyed time with old friends and made new friends. One of the highlights of their traveling in recent years was flying to Alaska with their three children and spouses. They enjoyed seeing some of the Last Frontier state and then returned to the lower 48 states on a cruise ship, a new experience for Arloa and Lyle.

Some of her other hobbies were working in her garden every summer, cooking, and sewing. She preserved much of the garden produce. Her good cooking was shared at many family gatherings where the grandchildren looked forward to her hot rolls and where dessert, no matter the season of the year, was often homemade ice cream. She made quilts and afghans for her kids and grandkids. She also loved working on her and Lyle’s ancestry, finding ancestors quite a ways back in history.
They became members of the Brooklyn Christian Church until it closed in the late 1960s. Their membership was transferred to the Eagleville Christian Church. Arloa helped work at the many funeral dinners served by the Eagleville church ladies and brought some of her good cooking to these dinners and to church fellowship dinners.

Nearly always together, Arloa and Lyle were a good example of a strong and supportive marriage. Together they followed their children’s, grandchildren’s, and great-grandchildren’s school activities, traveling many miles to baseball, softball, basketball, and football games. She cheered for her family through thousands of athletic events. Arloa was a fan of Lyle’s music and traveled with him to many performances and ‘jams’.

Arloa was preceded in death by her parents, Willis and Valda Hendren; her brother and sister-in-law, James and Norma Sue Hendren; brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Kyle and Ivadene Edwards; and father-in-law and mother-in-law, Garland and Lola Edwards.

Survivors include her husband, Lyle Edwards; daughter and son-in-law, Peggy and Allen Craig, Eagleville; son and daughter-in-law, Don and Susan Edwards, Kearney, Missouri; and son, Ron Edwards, Savage, Minnesota. Grandchildren: Shannon (Lisa) Craig, Lori (Jason) Gibson, Sherri (Jeremy) Rinehart, Blake Edwards, Brady Edwards, Kelsey (Alan) Stratton, Kyler (Melissa) Edwards, Jessica Edwards, and Jake Edwards. Great-Grandchildren: Shaylynn, Cole and Lexi Craig; Garren, Abbe, and Kiley Gibson; Samantha (Corby) Clark, Randy Rinehart, and Carly Rinehart; Chloe Stratton, and Emily Edwards. She leaves four nieces and four nephews and their families and a host of friends.

Funeral Services were held at 1:30 p.m. Friday, December 29 at the Eagleville Christian Church, Eagleville, MO under the direction of Roberson Funeral Home, Bethany, MO. Burial followed in Allen Cemetery, Eagleville, MO. The family received friends from 6:00-8:00 p.m. Thursday at Roberson Funeral Home, Bethany, MO. Memorials may be made to Allen Cemetery and/or Harrison County Hospice in care of Roberson Funeral Home, P.O. Box 46, Bethany, MO 64424. Online condolences may be left at www.robersonfuneralhome.com

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