Bruce Edmonds (1904-1974)

Bruce Edmonds was born on January 23, 1904 in the township of Beech near Whelen Springs, Clark County, Arkansas.  He was the eleventh child born to the marriage of William Newell Edmonds and Laura Smith.

Bruce was a brother to Mary, William Adonis, Willis Powell, Samuel Jackson, Fannie Pearl, Paul, Silas, Alphonso Hilliard "Punch", James Thomas, Charles "Charlie" Douglas, and Martha Rebecca Edmonds.

The 1910 U. S. Census shows the family living in Ward 3, Union Parish, Louisiana.  By 1920, the family had relocated to Ward 5, Allen Parish, Louisiana.

On July 8, 1920, Bruce enlisted in the United States Army and was stationed at Camp Pike, Arkansas where he served as a Pvt. 1st Class, Spec., Service Battery, 18th Field Artillery.  He was Honorably Discharged on July 7, 1921.








After completing a year of service at Camp Pike, Arkansas, Bruce was inducted into the United States Army on July 20, 1921.

He was stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina and served as a Pvt. 1st Class, Spec. 3 in the Service Battery of the 18th Field Artillery.  




Bruce was Honorably Discharged from the United States Army on July 19, 1924.

   






On March 29, 1926 he married Mary Allye Steele in Franklin Parish, Louisiana.

The ceremony was performed by Rev. W. H. Rickey.  Witnesses were C. C. Wright, Mrs. C. L. Enright and Octavia Rickey.



 






Bruce was working as a Railroad Section Foreman in 1927 and by 1930, he was a time keeper for a pipeline construction company.

In 1937, Bruce was operating Bruce Edmonds Service Station in Sicily Island.

In 1940 he worked as an auditor for Public Works Administration Projects.  This job took the family to Alabama and Texas for several months at a time.

By 1944, Bruce was working as a cashier in the Sicily Island State Bank.

In 1948 he was elected to serve as Sicily Island's representative on the Catahoula Parish School Board.  He would be re-elected to serve in this role for twenty-six years; missing only one board meeting during his many years of service.

 

Bruce and Allye were the parents of one child, Bruce Alfonso Edmonds.

Bruce Edmonds passed from this life on January 21, 1974.  He is buried alongside his wife, Mary Allye Steele Edmonds, in the Old Pine Hill Cemetery in Sicily Island, Catahoula Parish, Louisiana.