Services for Fern will be held on Friday, January 3, 2025 beginning at 11:00 A.M. at Journey Church in Marshalltown. A visitation for family and friends will be held one hour prior to services. She will be laid to rest at a later date at Chapel Hill Cemetery in Gladbrook. Memorials in Fern’s name may be directed to her family for a later designation. For additional information or to send a condolence to the family please visit www.mitchellfh.com or call 641-844-1234.

Fern Anna Michael was born August 7, 1933. She was the middle of three children born to Omar and Grace (McFarland) Michael. She attended school In Tama, Iowa and was a graduate of Tama High School in 1951.

After playing a game of hard to get, Fern was united in marriage to the love of her life, Wayne Edwards on November 11, 1951 in Toledo, Iowa. They made their home together in Marshalltown, Iowa raising their six children. Fern worked for Marshalltown Medical and Surgical Center for a number of years as a CNA. Once her children were born, she stayed home to be sure to help raise her children and care for her family. As her children grew up, she took on part time work to occupy her time.

In her free time, she was a member of the Marshalltown Restorers Club, CANASTA and Journey Church (formerly First Baptist Church). She adored spending time with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, spending time with her four-legged furry companion, Pepper, and playing cards with friends. In her younger years, she had many memories made with her family going camping at Shady Hills and had frequently spoken about the time where she took a bus ride on a Greyhound bus from Iowa to Alaska. With her passing this marks the end of her generation of her family being the last survivor.

She is survived by her five children, Doug Edwards, Pam Killion, Vicki Hatch, Carol Smolik and David (Peggy) Edwards; her grandchildren, Serina, Chanda, Nicholas, Jonathan, Joshua, Ashley, Brennon, Carmen, Edie, Rae Ann, Michael, Samantha, Tanner, Alley and Duston; several great-grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews.

She is preceded in death by her husband, Wayne; her daughter in infancy, Susan Edwards; her parents, Omar and Grace Michael; her siblings, Mildred Speckner and Lowell Michael; sons and daughter-in-law, Sandi Edwards, Gary Killion, Don Hatch and Mike Smolik and her fur baby Pepper.