Obituary of John Wesley Edmonds

John Wesley Edmonds was born on February 11, 1947 in Buckingham, VA to the late Joseph Edmonds and Mattie Braxton Edmonds. John closed his eyes and peacefully departed this earth on May 31, 2020 at 73 years old. He accepted Christ at an early age at Zion Hill Baptist Church in Farmville Virginia. As a teenager he later moved to Riverhead Long Island, NY to find better employment opportunities. While in New York he met his future wife Shirley Trent, moved back to Virginia and got married. John was a hard worker as a heavy machine operator, employed by Blake Bolding of Riverhead, NY for several years and Harold W. Collins of Cumberland, VA for over 20 years until his retirement. He enjoyed spending time with family, friends, and going fishing. He was preceded in death by his parents, four brothers, one sister, and one grandson. He leaves behind a daughter Tonya Edmonds O'Neil (Jaja) of Chantilly, VA; five grandchildren, Jasmine Baker and Jonathan Baker of Chicago, IL, Jaja Malcolm O'Neil III, Jaja Kelvin O'Neil IV, Elijah Langston O'Neil of Chantilly, VA.; one great grandchild, Abrham William Baker of Chicago IL; three sisters, Mattie Winston (John) of Waynesboro, VA, Dora West of Blackstone, VA, and Evelyn Harvey of Rice, VA; two brothers, Lynn Edmonds (Ineatha) of Prospect, VA, George Edmonds (Mary) of Cumberland, VA, one sister-in-law, Jean Edmonds of Prospect, VA ; one brother in law, Joe Brown of Prospect, VA; a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends, He was blessed to have two devoted nieces Shaunita Branch and Keisha Edmonds. Farewell for Now My heart breaks every time I think of never seeing your smiling face again. You have touched the lives of so many of us within the family and close friends. Every time someone speak of you, they remember a time you made them laugh with your colorful personality that filled the entire room. These fond memories will be cherished forever in our hearts. We will remember how you always showed kindness to help people in need, we remember how you stood your ground for what you believed in, lastly how could we ever forget those sharp dance moves that always made us enjoy your company. Thank you for the memories. Thank you for the lessons to always be strong, self-sufficient, and how to not take life too seriously. Farewell for now but you will live on in our hearts forever. He would not want us to be sad. I can hear him saying "don't cry for me when I am gone, I lived my life and now it is time for a celebration." He always danced as though no one was watching!