GLENN ARTHUR EDWARDS

Novermber 22, 1923 - March 8, 2019

Glenn Arthur Edwards, son of Fred and Olivia Edwards, was born on November 22, 1923 in Tulare, California. Fred worked for the Southern California Edison Company and Olivia was a homemaker.

The family moved to Lindsay for a few years and then settled on a farm northeast of Tulare, which became their permanent home and an attraction for other children, who were always welcome all through the years.

Glenn, the second of four brothers, was good at all sports and was a leader at school. While growing up, the boys worked on the farm and in the summer on surrounding farms. Nowadays, they are called “children of the

Depression” which is translated, “tough, strong and resilient”. They didn’t have a lot of money but never felt “poor”. All the family played a musical instrument, took private lessons and had a family orchestra.

In high school, Glenn excelled at baseball and football. He was class president and during his senior year, student body president. Definitely a BMOC. After graduation in 1941, he attended USC on as football scholarship.

His education was interrupted by World War II, and he was drafted into the U.s.-army. There his baseball prowess was discovered by major league scouts, which sent him to many different military posts. One of those posts was Camp Chaffee in Arkansas where he met Mary Delagrange at a

USO dance. They were married for almost 60 years.

Glenn and Mary had seven children, Nicki, Glenn Michael, Stephen, Cecelia, Matthew, Neil and Christopher. They lived in Porterville during those formative years.

After the war, Glenn joined his brother, Jeff, at Edwards Studio on South Main. There Glenn pioneered the art of outdoor photography. It was such a new concept that he coined the term, Glenna-graph, to describe this exciting new style of portraiture.

In the 70s and early 80s, he worked with several professional color labs in Redwood City and Gardena, finally becoming General Manger of Alfa Color Labs.

Glenn was a creative person. In his youth he wrote humorous verse. He played the marimba. He acted in plays in high school; at home, the family turned an old building into a theater and put on plays and entertainment in the summer, in which all of the brothers participated. This talent was seen in many plays at the Barn Theater. At the age of 90, he played the lead in “The Sunshine Boys” for which he won the Best Actor of the Year award. At 93, he starred in “Love Letters” with his sister, Winnie.

After retirement, Glenn and Mary travelled the United States, enjoying the scenic attractions everywhere and visiting friends and relatives wherever they went. When they’d had enough traveling they settled in Bella Vista, Arkansas, which was the scene of many celebrations and get togethers. They did love a good party.

Glenn was always athletic. After the army, he played semi-pro baseball in the South & also played in Porterville. In the Fifties, he took up golf, along with his brother Jeff, which he played until he was well into his nineties.

When he lived in Arkansas, he joined a cycling club & to celebrate his seventieth birthday, rode seventy miles through four states. At the age of 89, he started working out at Olympic Gym and this summer, enjoyed water aerobics.

Glenn will be missed by his children, Nicki, Stephen, Neil and Christopher; daughters-in-laws, Jill and Lillian; grandchildren, Ellen, Olivia and Ian; great-grandchildren, Joseph, Josie, Arie, Trinity and Zion; his brother Jeff and sister, Winnie and many nieces and nephews. Passing before him were his wife, Mary, his daughter, Cecelia, sons, Glenn Michael and Matthew, brothers Clyde and Foster. He leaves many friends, in Porterville and all over the United States. To know him was to love him.

A Celebration of Life will be held on Sunday, March 31, at 2 pm at the Barn Theater. In lieu of flowers, the family would like donations to the Barn Theater, the site of so many triumphs and celebrations for Glenn. The address is PO Box 108, Porterville, ca 93258. Cards may be sent to 13096 Road 208, Porterville CA 93257. We hope you’ll come celebrate the life of this extraordinary man