Services for Mr. John Ray Edward, 69, were held at New Haven Memorial Funeral Home on Saturday, December 28, 2024, with Senator Rod Hickman officiating. Burial followed at Blackwater Baptist Church Cemetery Daleville, MS.

Johnny Ray Edwards, affectionately known as “Ray Ray”, was born Sunday March 6, 1955 to Leo Edwards and Elizabeth Broach Thomas Edwards in Dekalb, MS.

During early childhood, he joined New Hope Blackwater Baptist Church in Daleville, MS. He received his education from the Kemper County School System where he attended West Kemper High School in DeKalb, MS. After high school, he landed a promising and rewarding career at Industrial Electric Motor Works in Meridian, MS where he worked diligently until retirement. He was also a disc jockey for many years and was better known as “The Hard Rocking Doctor”

Mr. Johnny Ray Edwards, age 69, exited his earthly life on Wednesday, December 18, 2024, at St. Dominic Hospital in Jackson, Hinds County, MS.

He was preceded in death by his son, Deon Edwards; father, Leo Edwards; mother, Elizabeth Broach Thomas Edwards; nine siblings - six paternal siblings four brothers and two sisters), Hubert Earl Edwards, Royce Edwards, Robert Edwards, Harold Edwards, Hazel Edwards Whiteand, and Lillian Edwards Harrington; three maternal siblings (two brothers and one sister, Charles Thomas, James Edwards, and Ida Mae Thomas Brown; paternal grandparents, Thomas Edwards and Mary Ellen Grady Edwards; and maternal grandparents, Louis Broach and Mary Jane "Janie" Houston Broach.

Survivors are: five children, Sherlene Mingo of Memphis, TN; Vernita Edwards Willis (Jeffrey) and LaTasha Michelle Rowe, both of Meridian, MS; Andrew Hickman of Philadelphia, MS; and Christina Whitsett of DeKalb, MS; nine grandchildren: three great grandchildren; three siblings - all sisters, Willie Mae Barfield of Fort Meade, FL; Leora Woods and Minne Houston, both of Preston, MS; and a host of nieces, nephews, great nieces, great nephews, cousins, and friends.