James Wyatt Edwards

September 6, 1937 – May 13, 2011

Jim Edwards, a lion of causes, great and small, a champion of education for all, a civic and staunch Christian leader, and a man of great principles and vision, passed away Friday morning, May 13, 2011, three weeks and 3 days after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

To say that Jim was a visionary sounds trite, yet he seemed to often see beyond the things that others saw. A fellow educator and friend recently wrote, “Jim. You always saw the possible and dared to make dreams into reality. You could see the big picture and looked at the horizon when those around you were looking at the ground for the next step.”

Jim served North Texas in many capacities over the past 40 years including being elected Mayor of Plano for two terms in the late 70’s and 80’s, where he worked with H. Ross Perot to relocate EDS to Plano, as well as other corporate giants such as JC Penney and Frito-Lay. He helped save the George House, a historic Victorian structure from the wrecking ball, and it now sits as the centerpiece of Dallas’ Old City Park. Jim is credited for the approval of Collin Creek Mall, extending the Dallas North Tollway through to SH 121, the funding of SH 190 - the Bush Tollway, and establishing Plano’s Historical Landmark Commission among many other things.

Jim was the first chairman of the DART Board, and was one of the founding board members and interim chancellor of the Collin County Community College District. He was regional coordinator of Mike Huckabee’s successful Texas campaign in 2008, a foot-soldier for George W. Bush in Palm Beach County, Florida in 2000, and a Collin County delegate to the Republican National Convention in 2008.

As an educator and academician, Jim was a rare commodity. He came to North Texas in 1968 when he was 30 years old, with his quiver packed with two PhD’s and two master’s degrees, and he was hired as the chairman of accounting department at TCU. At 34, he moved to cross-town rival SMU, where he became one of the youngest tenured professors in the school’s history. While serving as chairman of the accounting department, Jim became a director of the MBA program, and co-founded SMU’s Executive MBA program. He left SMU in 1980 to take on the cause of saving Dallas Baptist University from the brink of bankruptcy. He worked with board members the legendary WA Criswell, Mary Crowley, and Don Carter to save DBU’s accreditation and shore up the ailing institution. With that cause and many others complete, he left Texas in 1987 to answer a similar call for Union University in Jackson, Tennessee. Two years later he found himself in Hattiesburg, Mississippi on the doorstep of William Carey College.

Jim was the President and CEO of William Carey for 7 years, and appointed Chancellor his last year. During his tenure, he reestablished WCC’s accreditation, expanded the school’s campuses in Gulfport and the nursing school in New Orleans, and vastly improved its arts programs, converting old military barracks in pottery kilns and studios, a project that was very dear to his heart. Jim doubled the school’s enrollments and quadrupled its endowment base. Many alumni and benefactors of the school were skeptical of contributing to the ailing institution after years of troubled management, but agreed to step up with a vengeance if Dr. Edwards stayed on to ‘manage’ their contributions and make the college a stable educational force in the South. So, he did, and the school remains one of the better private, faith-based, liberal arts colleges in the region.

After retiring from William Carey and returning to Texas in 1997, Jim took on a whole new set of causes. Through his affiliation with Rotary International, he worked tirelessly to find homes for the Lost Boys of the Sudan, and distributed thousands of wheelchairs to the poor and impoverished in Kenya, Sudan and other countries in Africa, underprivileged seniors throughout the United States.

In addition to active participation in national political campaigns over the past decade, Jim worked along side his son Randy on numerous real estate projects. Yet through his focus on many faith-based initiatives, he stayed resolute in his commitment to the education of young people. As Director of External Relations for the non-profit organization Heart of a Champion, Jim was the passionate grass roots advocate for the character education of wayward teens and young adults seeking direction and mentoring. His most recent initiative was the “Changing Hearts Project” reaching children of combat veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan, providing life skills and character development as the family reenters life in the US after traumatic duty. He established groups that minister to violent criminals in prisons throughout the region, and helped those non-violent parolees find solace and direction when reengaging into society. Jim wrote grant proposals and made public appeals to raise money and create organizations to focus on the needs of those that wanted and needed an education, but somehow could not get it.

Jim grew up in Henderson, Kentucky, a small town near the confluence of the Ohio and Green Rivers, the son of a tradesman and God-fearing woman. He was industrious and goal oriented as a child, having a paper route and working for local grocers from the age of 7. He graduated high school and started college at age 16 after setting state records in long-distance running and typing skills. He mastered speed reading skills which led him to be a voracious reader, an extraordinary student and masterful learner of anything written. He met ‘Gene when he was 20 years old and a student at Western Kentucky University in her hometown of Bowling Green. A stunning beauty and daughter of a local farming family, they married when he was 21 and she was 20, and ‘Gene became the rudder of this flying machine of a man. They bowed their heads and plowed into life.

From the top of his ever-present Stetson, to the tip of his boots Jim was and still is a man of God. Serving in many churches throughout his life as a deacon, a sometimes pastor, and a teacher. His love for his Savior, Jesus Christ, was the fire that fueled his every cause, his compass across this great journey. Throughout his life, his career and decades of service, he shared Christ to all those around him through his passion and fervor to make life on this earth a better place. And Jim ministered to all of us that ever had the privilege to know him through his personal sacrifice of time and money, but he truly loved every moment. His servant-leadership was the very core of his existence and was reflected in everything that Jim endeavored.

People will say that Jim’s drive and determination to save the world was unabashed and absolutely fearless. His ego was self-deprecating, such that he pursued his goals with reckless abandon, unafraid of what stood in his way, whether it was a lack of funds or people. Life for Jim was an adventure - each day gave way for a new opportunity. God put him on this earth to change it and make it better through education and better life experiences. He fought and pushed every day in order to make that happen - a righteous warrior with the heart of a champion for Kingdom causes. – and he fought up to and including his very last day. And he never, ever, ever gave up.

But now the Lion has gone from our sight. The fight for him is over and his race is won. But he has handed us a really big baton. As he would say, “now, bow your head, and get it done”.

Jim is survived by his loving wife of 51 years, Imogene, his three children Randy Edwards (wife, Leah) of Plano, Texas, Jamye Ferguson (husband, Lee) of Ovilla, Texas and Allison Travis (husband, Mike) of Laurel, Mississippi, plus six grandchildren, Daniel, Abby and Sarah Ferguson, Audrey and Natalie Edwards, and Grace Travis. He is also survived by his sister Janis Knox (husband, Owen) and brother Pat Edwards (wife, Nancy), and fifteen nieces and nephews. Also surviving Jim are his uncle Harold Green and aunt Sally Carter, mother-in-law, Roberta Jackson, brother-in-law Leroy Jackson and sisters-in-law Nellie White, Regina Bright, and Diane Reynolds. Preceding him in death are his mother, Margaret Edwards who passed away on April 30, 2011 and father, Wyatt Edwards.

A Visitation – Open House will be held Monday from 5 – 7 pm at 1413 E. 15th Street, Plano, Texas and Memorial Services will be at First Baptist Church of Plano, Tuesday at 2pm. Jim will be laid to rest in Henderson, Kentucky in June.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be sent to the Jim Edwards Memorial Fund at Heart of a Champion, 99 Main Street, Colleyville, TX 76034, 817.427.4621, or online at www.heartofachampion.org.

Please view http://www.teddickeyfuneral.com/ for more details and pictures.

The world will miss our father and great friend.