Patience and understanding for all
The founder of M.J. Edwards funeral home, an institution that has served African-american communities in Memphis for decades, has died.
M.J. Edwards Sr., the son of a sharecropper who grew up to run his own business, died Friday at age 92. He retired from the funeral home in January 2018 after more than seven decades.
Edwards opened his one-hearse funeral home in March 1980 along with two directors, the Rev. David Craft and his long-time companion Evelyn Cooper.
His son, Monroe J. Edwards Jr., describes his father as a persistent businessman, one who figured out how to get around any obstacles in order to build a business that would serve the black community for decades.
“He wasn’t just running a business to make a profit, he was running a business to help people,” Edwards Jr. said.
He described his father as a patient person, one that valued working in Orange Mound.
“He loved being out in the community. He loved talking to people, shaking their hands,” Edwards Jr. said, adding his father didn’t turn anyone away who couldn’t afford a proper burial.
“People would come in and need help with the funeral, and he would offer them credit, a payment plan. He would find a way to work with them, to help them get their loved one buried,” Edwards Jr. said. “I think helping people really drove him through the years.”
“When you’re working with a bereaved family, you need a lot of patience, which my father had for everyone that needed his help,” Edwards Jr. said.
M.J. Edwards has three locations in predominately black communities: Orange Mound, Southaven and Raleigh.
“Over the decades, especially in Orange Mound, my father grew to know a lot of people, a lot of families,” said Edwards Jr., who spoke about the importance of having a funeral home that shared in the culture and identity of black communities.
“When a black person goes into a funeral home ... to have that shared background, that culture, and to know that the funeral home will understand their client’s backgrounds and customs, it’s important,” Edwards Jr. said.
The younger Edwards said it was common for families to keep coming back to M.J. Edwards “because they knew my father would take care of them.” As for his own family, Edwards Jr. said his father was a loving one, one who took the time to teach him how to “think outside of the box in order to get around any obstacles.”
Edwards Sr. is survived by his sons Monroe J. Edwards Jr. and Kenneth J. Edwards, his long-time companion Evelyn Cooper, three grandchildren, five great-grandchildren, and his siblings Doris Edwards Hayes, Freddie C. Edwards and Roy Hoskins.
Multiple visitations will be held around the region.
March 20: 10 a.m. until noon at M.J. Edwards Stage Road Chapel (4445 Stage Road, Memphis); 1-3 p.m. at M.J. Edwards Whitehaven Chapel (5494 Elvis Presley Blvd., Memphis); 5-7 p.m. at Second Baptist Church in Coldwater, Mississippi, (710 Forrest Circle, 36818).
March 21: 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. at the M.J. Edwards Funeral Home (1165 Airways Blvd., Memphis); 5-7 p.m. at Beulah Baptist Church (2407 Douglass Ave., Memphis).
Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m., March 22, at New Salem Baptist Church, 2237 South Parkway East, in Memphis. Following services, Edwards Sr. will be interred at Memorial Park Cemetery, 5668 Poplar Ave., Memphis.