Mary Edwards Obituary

Mary Eleanor Callison Edwards, a longtime resident of Colorado Springs, died of a heart attack in Spokane, Washington, on April 26, 2005. her interment at Chapel of Our Savior Columbarium is pending family arrangements. The second daughter of Jim and Addie Callison, Mary Eleanor Callison was born on October 20 1917, in Jamesport, Missouri. She graduated Valedictorian at Jamesport High School in 1935, attended Trenton State College for two years, and graduated from St.. Luke's Hospital School of Nursing in Kansas City in 1939. Eleanor married Robert Edwards, co-founder and owner of The Bakers' Service Company in Colorado Springs, at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Kansas City on August 16, 1941. She served as a nurse in hospitals in Colorado Springs during the polio epidemic of the early 1950's, as a school nurse for District 11 from 1961-1966, and as a respiratory therapist for the El Paso County Health Department from 1966-79. She served on the boards of the Colorado Springs Visiting Nurse Association (1980-85), the Red Cross, and the Maytag Foundation. For many years she chaired the Altar Guild of the Episcopal Churches in Colorado Springs. She and her family were founding members of the Chapel of Our Savior in Colorado Springs. Following the death of her husband in 1997, Eleanor moved to Spokane, Washington, to be closer to her son, James and his wife, Janie. She is survived by her older sister, Marjorie; by two children: Diana Lee and James Robert; by four grandchildren: Mark Maneche, Daria Maneche, Corrie (Edwards) Berg, and Mark Edwards; and by three great-grandchildren: Anders, Mathias, and Soren Berg.