Donna Mae Edwards

Donna Mae EdwardsEdwards, Donna

1927-2018

“Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.”

Donna Mae McCandless Edwards went home to meet her Lord on Tuesday, July 17, 2018. She was 90 years old. Born October 6, 1927 to Earl W. and Blanche Mae McCandless in Omega, Oklahoma, Donna had two older brothers: Reid McCandless and Ray McCandless who both preceded her in death. Donna graduated from Kingfisher High School in 1944 at the age of 17 and graduated from Oklahoma A&M in the summer of 1947 at the age of 19. That August she married Frank T. Edwards, Jr. from Stillwater who was finishing his degree at OSU after serving 3 years in the Army Air Corps in WWII. Donna is survived by her three children: Danny Edwards and his wife Mery, of West Palm Beach, Florida; Anita Schlaht and her husband Kirby of Edmond; David Edwards and his wife Jonnie of Stillwater. Donna has six grandchildren and six great-grandchildren: Grant Wadley and his son Ethan of Las Vegas, Nevada; Neal Wadley, his wife Jana, and their children Elliott and Adeline of Dallas, Texas; Jay Wadley of Brooklyn, New York; Rachel Lewis and her husband Jonathan of Stillwater, Oklahoma and their daughter Nyla; and Meredith Bayer, her husband Ryan and their sons Titus and Andrew of Louisville, Kentucky. She is preceded in death by one granddaughter, Abby Edwards.

Donna’s first teaching position was in the laboratory preschool at OSU before the couple moved to Alaska. She taught kindergarten in Kansas City and Neosho, Missouri before moving to Edmond in 1960. She completed her Master’s degree in Education at Central State soon after moving to Edmond and taught 1st grade at Pleasant Hill in Oklahoma City before getting her first teaching job with Edmond Public Schools at Clegern. She taught 1st grade at Sunset and Northern Hills Elementary before moving on to teach Early Childhood Education in the Home Economics Department at UCO for nine years. In 1974 she and Anita started Children’s World Preschool and then in 1976 Donna left UCO to start Children’s World Day Care Center on Kelly in Edmond. Donna later sold the day care and went to work for friends Chuck and Betty Bowman at the Fellowship of Christian Athletes office until she retired.

Donna remained active at her church, Henderson Hills, by volunteering, teaching a Ladies Sunday School class for many years, helping with the Wednesday night supper, and being a part of the teaching team for Rita Hernandez.

Donna loved many things but among her favorites were watching her sons play golf, being a part of her children and grandchildren’s lives and their activities, traveling, making crafts with her best friend Frances, and OSU sports. Her friends and family will miss her. In lieu of flowers the family requests any contributions be made to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes or Henderson Hills Baptist Church.

Visitation will be held Friday, July 20th from 12:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. with the family present from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at Matthews Funeral Home.  Services will be at 10:00 a.m., Saturday, July 21, 2018 at Henderson Hills Baptist Church in Edmond, OK with interment to follow at Memorial Park Cemetery in Oklahoma City, OK.

3 thoughts on “Donna Mae Edwards”

  1. Kathy Stevens Foster

    I have so many special memories of Donna and family during my college days and beyond. I loved babysitting for the children and always appreciated that they made me feel like family.

  2. Kim Lockwood

    I sorry I missed her services. Danny and Eddie Wilkins were the first two guys I met when we moved to Edmond in ’66. I don’t think I ever saw her that she didn’t have a smile. I always thought they had a “neat” family to be a part of, and Donna was the one who made it that way. Her Christian way of life has been passed through each of her kids.

  3. What a mark she made in early childhood education through her teaching at UCO and then opening the premier center for children in Edmond. I did not hear of her passing until it was on Centralities at UCO, as did several others here. I wish her family peace and encouragement in your journeys.

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