Lewes’ David and June Edwards share life passions

It would be impossible to interview lifelong Robinsonville Road resident David Edwards without also including his wife June.

It's hard to be in the presence of the two and not feel the love. The couple finished each other's thoughts, deferred to the other for details, playfully ribbed each other over embarrassing moments and watched lovingly while the other person spoke.

The Edwards freely admit this is the not the inseparable-high-school-sweethearts story, but one that begins when spurred into action by their children after failed marriages for both.

"Clearly, we're a blended family, if you haven't been able to tell," said David. Between the two there are five children: three from June's previous marriage – Susan, Donna and Robert; and the other two from David's – Lori and Chris.

Separately, the two have their own Sussex County story.

David and his siblings grew up on Robinsonville Road outside Lewes on farmland that has been portioned off into different housing developments. For the time being – the family land is being developed again – the red house David grew up in is still standing on Robinsonville Road.

David said the house is a barrack from Cape Henlopen State Park that his dad brought out here after World War II. David spent his formative years on the 150 acres of farms field his family owned. They grew soybeans, barley, corn, watermelons and strawberries, he said.

"It was at a time that we could load the truck up with watermelons, head to Henlopen Acres and not see a single other car on Route 1," said David.

June grew up west of Millsboro, about a mile from Carey's United Methodist Church and attended Carey's Camp, a tabernacle that opened in 1888 and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.

She was a record keeper at a Mountaire plant before she began sewing and driving school buses for the Indian River School District.

The couple met through the singles directory in the Sussex Guide.

"My daughters said they were going to answer one of the ads for me if I didn't, so I answered David's before they got a chance," said June.

History aside, June said there was a spark the moment they met.

"He came across as a very sincere gentleman," said June of David about their first date, which included a stroll on the Boardwalk and dinner at Grotto Pizza.

As important as their anniversary is, said David, every year on Sept. 12 they take a walk on the Boardwalk and eat at Grotto Pizza.

"That date is more important to us than our wedding anniversary," he said.

From the beginning, the couple said, their children had a good relationships. There's been brother and sister fighting sometimes, said June, but from their third date, the sets of daughters were planning the wedding.

"We're very fortunate to have good kids," said David. "This day and time, it's a hard thing to say."

Except for a two-year stint in Wilmington in the late 1990s, David and June have lived their entire lives in Sussex County. Almost two decades later, those two years were an experience the couple hasn't forgotten.

"I like to tell people, I couldn't get the manure from out of my toes," said David, with a smile. "We had to come back. We were like fish out of water."

At the time, David was working on the design and then installation of a commercial fire alarm system at an MBNA office. He said he was driving to Wilmington at 6 a.m. and not getting back until after midnight most nights.

While he was still working as a fire alarm system designer, David took H&R Block's tax preparation course because dividing the family's farmland into subdivisions, and making sure everything was accounted for, was too tedious a process for his parents to handle. He did well enough learning the system that H&R Block recruited him to work part time. During tax season, he said, he'd work all day, then come home and work until 2 a.m.

Now, he said, "I'll work until 9:30 and then come sit by my pretty wife and enjoy a few minutes." This prompts an oh-David smile from June.

David said he never intended on staying in the tax preparation business, but his clients wouldn't let him get out. He said he tried to stop after a few years at H&R Block, but his clients found him and convinced him to stay in the game. Decades later, he said, "I do taxes for whole families – grandparents to grandkids."

Through word-of-mouth, June has built up quite the reputation for being a seamstress. As tax season reaches its peak for David, prom season reaches its peak for June.

June said she learned to sew from her mom, who made clothes for her and her sister when they were growing up. She said as she got older, she would wear clothes she made to work at the Mountaire plant, and her coworkers asked her to make them stuff or fix things for their daughters. Eventually, she said, she was able to stop at the chicken plant and stay at home with the kids while she sewed.

In any given year, she'll make alterations to 50 prom dresses and 10 wedding dresses.

Whenever possible, the two help each other. With her record-keeping background, June helps David stay organized with his tax preparation. David's dad was a furniture upholsterer, so when June has a set of curtains to make, he'll help with the cornices.

The couple has also gained notoriety over the past few years for their display of miniature Christmas scenes that they open each year to the public. The couple uses donations made when they show the pieces to help Jusst Sooup Ministry.

The display grew from the bookshelf in the living room, to the porch, to its own room to its own building, said David.

"It's an obsession," said June, laughing.

David said each of the Christmas scenes has meaning, but the one building that means the most is the one of a three-story building that looks like it came out of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. It has two businesses on the bottom level of the building – a tax location and a tailoring shop.