Résumé

Employee, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, WA, 10/1940. On his World War II draft registration card, a pencil annotation indicated he also worked at the US Navy facility at "Sand Point," perhaps after 1940.

Employee, US Navy, Naval Station Puget Sound, Sand Point, Seattle, WA. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; Wwii Draft Registration Cards For Washington, 10/16/1940-03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147; Box: 49, accessed 09/21/2023.)

Architect, B.F. Shearer Company, Seattle, WA, 1954. B.F. Shearer operated movie theaters in the Seattle area. (See Seattle, Washington, City Directory, 1954, p. 399.)

Principal, Donald M. Edwards, Architect, Seattle, WA, 1957. Edwards had an architectural office at 619 2nd Avenue, Room #203, in Seattle. This was one floor below that of the architect Paul W. Delaney, in Room #303. (See Seattle, Washington, City Directory, 1957, p. 206.)

Partner, Woo, Jackson and Edwards, Architects, Seattle, WA, 1959-1964.

Professional Activities

Regisitered Architect in the State of WA, 1947. He obtained architect's registration #402.

Relocation

Donald Merl Edwards was born in Spokane, WA. According to Donald's birth certificate, Merl and Mattie Edwards lived at North 4511 Madison Street in Spokane. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Washington State Archives; Olympia, Washington; Washington State Births 1907-1920 Source Information Ancestry.com. Washington, U.S., Birth Index, 1907-1920 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2002, accessed 09/21/2023.)

In 1919, they had a house at South 824 1/2 Monroe Street in Spokane. (See Spokane, Washington, City Directory, 1919, p. 325.)

By 1920, the Edwardses had relocated to 924 West 15th Avenue in Spokane. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1920; Census Place: Spokane, Spokane, Washington; Roll: T625_1941; Page: 3B; Enumeration District: 185, accessed 09/21/2023.) The 1930 US Census recorded his family's address as being 824 15th Avenue in Spokane, WA. They owned their own residence, valued at $5,500, again in line with neighbors. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1930; Census Place: Spokane, Spokane, Washington; Page: 11B; Enumeration District: 0098; FHL microfilm: 2342252, accessed 09/21/2023.)

Edwards may have resided at 5016 21st Avenue NE in 1935. (See Seattle, Washington, City Directory, 1935, p. 503.)

In 1940, the Edwards family resided in a single-family house on 5th Street in Almira, WA, The census estimated its value at $2,500, about average for the middle-class neighborhood. At the time, the household included Merl and Mattie, Donald's younger brother Dean, and his maternal grandmother, Nora E. Ailes (born c. 1858 in IL). At this time, Donald was 24, and had completed three years in college. His brother had completed one year of college. By 10/1940, Donald would be working for the US Navy in Western WA. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1940; Census Place: Almira, Lincoln, Washington; Roll: m-t0627-04352; Page: 2B; Enumeration District: 22-1, accessed 09/21/2023.)

In 1950, he lived with his wife and two children at 5050 36th Avenue NE in Seattle. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: Seattle, King, Washington; Roll: 827; Page: 7; Enumeration District: 40-180, accessed 09/21/2023.)

By 1981, at least, Donald and Dorothea Edwards lived at 1627 6th Avenue West, Apartment #6, in the Queen Anne neighborhood of Seattle. (See Ancestry.com, Source Information Ancestry.com. U.S., Public Records Index, 1950-1993, Volume 1 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010, accessed 09/21/2023.)

Edwards passed away from cancer on 02/28/1986. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Washington State Archives; Olympia, Washington; Washington Death Index, 1940-2017 Source Information Ancestry.com. Washington, U.S., Death Index, 1940-2017 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2002, accssed 09/21/2023.)

Parents

His mother was Mattie Roberta Ailes (born 08/31/1885 in IL-d. 03/1983 in Seattle, WA). Mattie's parents were Nora Hays (born 03/1858 in IL) and John C. Ailes (born 11/1843 in OH). Her family had lived in IA between at least 1878 until 1883 and in IL after 1885. In 1900, Mattie lived with her parents and two sisters in National City, CA, where they operated at fruit farm. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1900; Census Place: National, San Diego, California; Roll: 99; Page: 18; Enumeration District: 0187, accessed 09/21/2023.)

In 1910, Mattie resided with her sister and her family at 2711 College Avenue in Spokane, WA, She worked as a bookkeeper at her brother-in-law's wholesale rubber business. She may have met Merl, a traveling salesman, while working in this rubber company. (See Ancestry.com Source Citation Year: 1910; Census Place: Spokane Ward 4, Spokane, Washington; Roll: T624_1671; Page: 14a; Enumeration District: 0186; FHL microfilm: 1375684, accessed 09/21/2023.) At the time of Donald's birth, Mattie worked in the home. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Washington State Archives; Olympia, Washington; Washington State Births 1907-1920 Source Information Ancestry.com. Washington, U.S., Birth Index, 1907-1920 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2002, accessed 09/21/2023.)

Merl Edwards (born 08/21/1870 in Findlay, OH-d. 08/31/1950 in Almira, WA) his father, performed a variety of jobs, mostly in sales. He worked as a traveling salesman at the time of Donald's birth in 1915. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Washington State Archives; Olympia, Washington; Washington State Births 1907-1920 Source Information Ancestry.com. Washington, U.S., Birth Index, 1907-1920 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2002, accessed 09/21/2023.) He sold items produced by the US Rubber Company between about 1919 and 1930. (See Spokane, Washington, City Directory, 1919, p. 325 and Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1930; Census Place: Spokane, Spokane, Washington; Page: 11B; Enumeration District: 0098; FHL microfilm: 2342252, accessed 09/21/2023.) By 1940, Merl operated his own shoe and clothing store in Almira, WA. At his death in 1950 (according to his death certificate), Merl had lived in Almira for 19 years, meaning he moved there in about 1931. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1940; Census Place: Almira, Lincoln, Washington; Roll: m-t0627-04352; Page: 2B; Enumeration District: 22-1, accessed 09/21/2023 and Ancestry.com, Source Citation Washington State Archives; Olympia, Washington; Washington Death Index, 1940-2017 Source Information: Washington, U.S., Death Index, 1940-2017 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2002, accessed 09/21/2023.)

His parents wed on 12/15/1913 in Spokane, WA.

Merl's father was William Edwards (born 01/02/1842 in Wales-d. 11/27/1927 in Findlay, OH), his mother Catherine Hoch Edwards (born 03/07/1842 in Darmstadt, Hesse, Germany-d. 01/14/1926 in Findlay, OH). They wed on 03/05/1865 in Hancock County, OH, of which the capital is Findlay. They had at least six children. His family resided in Findlay during Merl's childhood. Interestingly, Findlay became a center for tire manufacture by about 1917 and the Cooper Tire and Rubber Company set up its headquarters there by the early 1920s. This family history in Findlay may have had some impact on Merl's choice to work for the US Rubber Company (later to become "Uniroyal" in 1961).

Catherine Hoch's father was Adam Hoch. Catherine may have arrived in the US on 09/18/1847 in the Port of New York, NY, aboard the Norddeutscher Lloyd Linie's ship S.S. Baltimore from Le Havre, France. (See Ancestry.com, Source Information Ancestry.com. New York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Immigration Lists, 1820-1850 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2003, accessed 09/21/2023.)

The 1940 US Census indicated that Merl ended his schooling at the 8th grade level, while Mattie completed two years of high school.

Merl was 15 years older than Mattie. With her, he had two sons, Donald and Dean Ailes Edwards (born 02/28/1918 in Spokane, WA-d. 04/11/2016 in WA) In 10/1940, Dean worked for Consolidated Builders, Incorporated, in Mason City, WA. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; Wwii Draft Registration Cards For Washington, 10/16/1940-03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147; Box: 49, accessed 09/21/2023.) In later life, Dean lived in Bellevue, WA. (See Ancestry.com, Source Information Ancestry.com. U.S., Public Records Index, 1950-1993, Volume 1 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010, accessed 09/21/2023.)

Spouse

Edwards married at least twice. He first union was with Jean Calbert Ruggles (born 04/15/1917 in Seattle, WA-d. 07/15/1997). They wed on 01/19/1941 at the University Unitarian Church in Seattle, WA. (See Ancesty.com, Source Citation Washington State Archives; Olympia, Washington; Washington Marriage Records, 1854-2013; Reference Number: kingcoarchmcvol87_497, accessed 09/26/2023.)

Her father was Calvin B. Ruggles (born 05/02/1884 in Columbus, OH-d. 12/09/1937 in Seattle, WA), her mother, Bertha May Layman (born 06/15/1880 in MA-d. 04/20/1950 in Seattle, WA). Jean graduated from Roosevelt High School in Seattle in 1935. (See Roosevelt High School Strenuous Life Yearbook, 1935, p. 40.)

He later married Dorothea May Minchin (born 11/15/1917 in Portland, OR). Her parents were Elwood Stanley Minchin (born 1881-d. 10/16/1881 in Portland, OR) and Sarah Olive Sturgis (born c. 1883-d. 11/26/1941 in Portland, OR). She first married Victor C. Valentine on 03/01/1941 in King County, WA. (See King County Marriage Records, 1855-2017 - Victor C Valentine - Dorothea Minchin, King County Marriage Records, 1855-2017, Washington State Archives, Digital Archives, http://digitalarchives.wa.gov, accessed 09/26/2023.) She wed Donald Edwards later in life and not in WA State.

Children

He and Jean had two children: Donna Jean Edwards (born c. 1942 in WA) and George William Edwards (born 11/28/1946 in Seattle, WA-d. 03/03/2006 in Ocean Shores, WA)

Donna graduated from Roosevelt High School in NE Seattle and studied political science at the University of Washington between about 1961-1964. (See University of Washington Tyee Yearbook, 1964, p. 222.)

George graduated from both Roosevelt High School and the University of Washington, and worked for Honeywell as an "electrician installing high end security systems," according to his obituary. (See Coleman Mortuary.com, "George William Edwards | November 28, 1946-March 3, 2006," accessed 09/26/2023.)

Biographical Notes

His World War II draft registration card indicated that Edwards stood 6 feet tall and weighed 160 pounds. He was Caucasian with a light complexion, brown eyes and brown hair. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; Wwii Draft Registration Cards For Washington, 10/16/1940-03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147; Box: 49, accessed 09/21/2023.)

SSN : 531-18-2069A.