Merle Roberts Edwards' Obituary
Our loving mother, grandmother and great grandmother Merle Roberts Edwards, age 99, passed away peacefully on Saturday, 10 December 2022 in Kaysville, Utah. She was born to Ella Rose Gagon and Elmer Leroy Roberts on 13 June 1923 in Roosevelt, Utah.
She attended elementary and high school in Roosevelt. She was on the Type Team in high school and was able to go to Brigham Young University to compete in the Intermountain Commercial Contest. It was an exciting experience as she had not travelled very far from home in those days. She moved to Salt Lake City soon after graduation in 1940 for employment and attended LDS Business College part-time in the evenings. When World War II broke out, she worked at the Utah Ordinance Plant on Redwood Road assembling 50-caliber shells. After the war, she and her high school sweetheart Charles Ellis Edwards, who had returned from serving frontline combat in the Philippines and with the occupation forces in Japan, were married and sealed in the Logan Temple. They lived in Logan with their son, Richard, while Charles attended Utah State Agricultural College. After graduation, they moved back to Roosevelt where Charles bought a farm and built a home. During this time, their small family was joined by John Farr, brother and sister James and Jane Ashdown, young children who needed a home and love and kindness. Jim and Jane went with the family to Cleveland, Ohio when Charles was accepted into the School of Dentistry at Western Reserve University. Merle worked at the Admissions Office and the Veterans’ Office while they lived there.
Merle worked as an assistant and bookkeeper at Charles’ dental office in Layton for 13 years while also caring for her invalid mother. It was at this time that nephews Larry Laub and Ed Smith came to live with them. After Charles retired, she continued to work as a secretary at a law office in Salt Lake. Merle had been a very active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and had served faithfully in various callings in the Primary, Young Women and Relief Society. She had also been a transcriber for a Patriarch and wrote ward newsletters in North Salt Lake.
Merle and Charles travelled extensively in the South Pacific and Europe. When Charles could not travel, she went with her best friend Ruth Murphy. She and Charles have gone on numerous road trips and have visited many State Parks and National Monuments all over the country. She helped Charles with his real estate projects by painting walls, planting flowers and shrubs. She enjoyed nature and hikes, climbed Ensign Peak four times and learned to ski in her later years. She did volunteer work at the Orchard Elementary School helping children to learn to read. She liked collecting favorite poems and songs, bought a player piano and rolls of music so she could listen to oldies and pretend she was playing the piano. She wrote and compiled family histories, loved writing and receiving letters from friends and loved ones. She was especially proud of her beautiful handwriting and was devastated when she broke her wrist in a fall a few months ago and could no longer write.
Merle spent the last three years at the Apple Tree Assisted Living in Kaysville. We would like to thank the staff of Apple Tree and Bristol Hospice for the love and tender care they have given her.
Merle is preceded in death by her parents Ella and Elmer; husband Charles; brothers Lorell and Karl Roberts; and sister Afton Horrocks. She is survived by her son Richard Edwards (Olga); nephews Larry Laub (Sherrie) and Ed Smith (Nadine); grandchildren Natalie, Joshua, Jaron, Sean, Benjamin, and Briana; and numerous great grandchildren. Her selfless love and service to her family and foster children is a great example to us all. You and Charles made our world a better place. You are loved and will be missed dearly.
At her request, a graveside service at the Bountiful Cemetery with family and a few invited friends will be held in the Spring of 2023 at a date yet to be determined.
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