Roy Harlie Edwards, (R-HD53) was laid to rest on November 7, in Gillette. People from all over the Cowboy State came to grieve with his loving family and to pay their respects. Our little town with long streets owes Roy a debt of gratitude for his service. He made Wyoming a better place.
Roy was a true son of Wyoming living his entire life in the town where his forebears homesteaded. There he raised his family. Beginning his career as an employee of the Farmer’s Co-op, he ended it as the owner of Edwards Tire Company.
Dedication to his wife and children led him out of the house and into the community. For Roy, that meant, first, service in his church. Whether as deacon of Central Baptist Church or traveling across the world to distribute Christian printed material, he was always eager to tell people the reason for the twinkle in his eye and the smile on his face.
Roy’s faith in Jesus was not privatized. It led him into public service. Twelve years on the Gillette City Council led to eight more on the Campbell County Commission. In 2014 he was elected to Wyoming’s House of Representatives. That is where I came to know him as a friend.
After three and a half decades in public office Roy’s warm smile and firm handshake remained genuine. Roy was not a gladhander, but a bold leader. He masterfully worked behind the scenes building coalitions, clarifying complex issues, and encouraging colleagues.
He was the epitome of quiet leadership. Even now his humble leadership lives on. Tomorrow, as House Republicans meet in caucus, the alternatives before them are largely due to Roy’s forethought and leadership.
Roy led with a clear vision. At the heart of it was a passion for individual liberty. He had a deep understanding of how easily true freedom is mistaken for mere individualism. He could see more keenly than most that even the smallest growth of government disproportionately reduced the citizen’s ability to build community.
This principled stand often drew unfair and underhanded criticism. People ignorant of his intellect called him a simpleton. Even at his funeral, unscrupulous media attempted to politicize his cause of death. While they debased themselves, Roy’s good humor always handled it with aplomb.
Roy legislative legacy can be seen in the bills that he sponsored. Of the 14 where he was lead sponsor, three removed unjust tax burdens from Wyoming citizens and were signed into law. He also helped sponsor seven pro-life bills, three of which became law.
He got less traction on three attempts to move some of Wyoming’s rainy-day fund into precious metals. These, too, showed his passion to leave a better Wyoming for those yet to be born.
Tax repeals, precious metals and pro-life legislation may strike you as a strange mix of legislative concerns. For Roy, who was deeply imbued with the thinking of America’s founders, they were a natural blend. He allowed his faith to penetrate his politics deeply. This allowed clarity of vision to address the practical and material needs of people as one with their social and spiritual needs.
That, I believe, is Roy’s greatest legacy. For seven decades, we have been propagandized to believe that the “separation of church and state” is a constitutional principle. It is not. It is, rather, a slogan that ideologues use to drive people of faith out of the public square. This is alien to America’s founding principles.
Conservatives who are unaware of this history censor themselves and leave their most powerful weapon in its sheath. They fight for a better community and state with their right arms tied behind their backs. Then, they wonder why truth, justice and goodness continue to lose ground to lies, corruption and evil.
Roy Edwards was not burdened by this false idea. He was unapologetic about his Christian faith and he fully integrated it into his public life. Community service, for him, was not a distraction from his faith. It was the life of faith itself.
In the face of opposition from right and left, Roy had the quiet confidence to stay the course. His principled conservatism was unshakable because it was not rooted in shallow slogans, but in a deep understanding of the human condition.
Roy was a man of Wyoming because he championed its values, not simply because he was born here. By God’s grace we were given many years of his faithful service, and an example to follow into the future. Like him, let us exude the quiet boldness of people who know where we come from and where we are going. That is the legacy of one Wyoming man.
Also published in the Wyoming Tribune Eagle, November 13, 2020.
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