Betty Jean Edwards was born on October 16, 1939 to Venson and Iyahnula (Nula) Liles in Dallas, Texas. She was the eldest of three siblings, including Douglas Liles and David Liles. Her father was a Baptist minister, so they lived in numerous small towns in Texas. She loved spending time with her Gibson cousins, Carolynne, George III, Barbara and Kathleen.
Betty graduated from Sunset High School in the North Oak Cliff area of Dallas. After graduation, she was employed with Dresser Industries where she met her husband, Kenneth Edwards. They were married April 20, 1963 in the home of her grandmother, Bettie (Grannie Boots) Gibson. On February 3, 1965 they welcomed their son, Jeff. Betty enjoyed spending time traveling and camping with her family. They traveled to several states with their camping club. They also had a camping space in East Texas that they dearly loved. In 1986, Jeff married Stacy Littlejohn in McKinney.
Betty worked for Fisher Controls, now Emerson, in McKinney for 39 years. She was in cost accounting and later in her career traveled to other Fisher locations to train their employees. In 1992, Betty and Kenneth assisted their daughter-in-law in the initial operations of Edwards Floral Design. Betty enjoyed assisting with the accounting portion of the business as well as wedding and event installations. In 1993, Betty and Kenneth were delighted to add Jeff and Stacy’s son Kendall to the family. Betty and Kendall were very close. She loved to make snacks for him, help with homework and toss the football after school. Betty was a member of First Christian Church in McKinney, and a former member of First Christian Church in Princeton.
Betty is survived by her son, Jeff Edwards and wife, Stacy; grandson, Kendall and wife, Courtney; her cousins and numerous nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her husband, parents and grandparents as well as her two brothers and her cousin, Kathleen. The family wishes to thank Kim Kunkle and her team of caregivers for the four years of excellent care for Betty as well as Joni Smith and her team at Amity Hospice.
A funeral service will be held at 2:00 p.m., Tuesday, March 24, 2026 at Turrentine-Jackson-Morrow Funeral Home, 2525 Central Expressway North, Allen, Texas 75013. The service will also be live streamed at the following link: https://celebrationoflife.tv/blog/betty-jean-edwards. Interment will be held at Ridgeview Memorial Park following the service.
The family will receive guests for a visitation from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., Monday evening at the funeral home.