BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — Former Governor Edwin Edwards is to lie in Memorial Hall in the State Capitol on Saturday, July 17. Public viewing will be available during the hours of 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
On Sunday, July 18, a private service for friends and family will be held at noon in Louisiana’s Old State Capitol. Louisiana Public Broadcasting (LPB) will stream the service.
Edwards passed away on Monday, June 12 at the age of 93. A family spokesperson says Edwards passed peacefully at his home in Gonzales, surrounded by family and friends. Louisiana’s only four-term governor expired of respiratory problems that had plagued him in recent years, according to doctors.
Edwards was less than a month short of his 94th birthday.
Born in Marksville in Avoyelles Parish during the Great Flood of 1927, in 1944, Edwards joined the U.S. Navy when he was 17 and became a pilot. His squadron was deploying to the Pacific theatre when Japan surrendered, ending World War II.
Edwards graduated from LSU Law School in 1949, served two terms as a Crowley City Councilman in Acadia Parish; one term in the Louisiana Senate as a floor leader for Governor John McKeithen; one term in Congress; and four terms as governor.