Joseph Edgar Edwards VII (Jay), 81, of Walden, CO passed away at his family’s home in Laramie, WY on November 4, 2025 after a long battle with cancer. Born in Elizabeth, NJ on August 22, 1944, he spent much of his childhood in Ann Arbor, MI where his father was the Univ. of Michigan campus minister. He met his wife, Carol, in California in 1965 and lived in San Francisco’s Haight Ashbury District. They hitchhiked around much of the U.S. and Mexico and eventually settled down in Walden. There, Jay worked at the sawmill and as a roughneck in the oilfield. He worked as a logger until his retirement at 72. 

Jay played guitar and piano in several bands, including the Prime Movers and the Rhythm Rustlers, and was a talented jazz pianist. They owned an Orvis fly fishing store for many years and he was an accomplished bamboo rod builder. He climbed many mountain peaks into his 70’s and 80’s. Among other things, he’ll be missed for his uncanny imitation of the Three Stooges, his talent at cussing a blue streak and how teary he became on every occasion. 

A Walden memorial service will be held in his honor later next year. In lieu of flowers, please send a donation to the ACLU for which Jay was a longtime supporter. He was preceded in death by his father Joseph Edgar Edwards VI, his mother Alice Edwards, and his brother Bruce. He is survived by siblings Rhonwyn, Brit and Mark, wife Carol neé Eckels, children Melodie and Joseph Edgar Edwards VIII and grandchildren Joseph Edgar Edwards IX (Jojo), Sol, Kai and Rhonwyn.