Erick Bailey Edwards, 97, loving father, proud World War II veteran, and retired civil engineer, was called to heaven on July 18, 2019.

He was a first generation American, his father having emigrated from Norway in 1903. He was predeceased by his wife, Lena, in 2004 after nearly 57 years of marriage. 

Erick grew up in rural Mathews County, where he became an excellent athlete (baseball, basketball) in high school and where he developed a lifelong passion for fishing. During World War II, he served in the Army Corps of Engineers, spending time in England, France, Germany, the Philippines, and Japan.

After his discharge, he moved to Portsmouth and began a long tenure at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard. In 1947, he married Lena Estelle Jones of Windsor, North Carolina. Raising three children, they spent many happy years together, often returning to Mathews County or vacationing in the Outer Banks of North Carolina for family reunions.

In 1966, he led Erick Jr.’s baseball team to the championship of the John Tyler Little League. In 1976, he retired from the Naval Shipyard to take on leadership positions in construction with private contractors, working for several more years until his full retirement in the early 1980s. Afterwards, he purchased a property in Mathews County, dividing his time between the land of smiling waters and Portsmouth. 

On the occasion of his 90th birthday, Erick recounted many of his colorful experiences during the war by self-publishing a book, “World War II True Stories by a Guy Who was There.” He lived a full and active life, always busy, either at work or on the water, visiting with friends and relatives, and rooting for his beloved Washington Redskins. In 2017, he entered Harmony at Harbour View, an assisted living facility in Suffolk. There, he quickly won the hearts of the staff, bringing a smile to their faces as they treated him in his final years with the utmost care and compassion. He touched the lives of many and will be greatly missed.

Erick is survived by three children: daughter, Marsha Coder (Dave) of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina; sons, Erick Jr. (Leah) of St. Petersburg, Florida, and Jeffrey (Tammy) of Portsmouth; and three grandchildren, Jillian Humphreys of Waynesboro, Karyn Edwards of Midlothian, and Jacob Edwards of Portsmouth.

A funeral service was conducted on Wednesday, July 24, 2019, at 1 p.m. at Port Norfolk Baptist Church. Interment followed at Meadowbrook Memorial Gardens in Suffolk.

Condolences may be offered online at www.sturtevantfuneralhome.com.