The Honorable Edwin F. Flowers, 91, passed away in Morgantown on Jan. 27, 2022, surrounded by family.
Born April 26, 1930, on the family farm in New Manchester, Edwin was the eldest of three sons born to Walter Edwin Flowers and Stella Marie Ulbright Flowers.
He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree as a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of West Virginia University in 1952 and LLB in 1954. While attending West Virginia University, he served as president of the student body, was president of his Sigma Nu fraternity chapter, cadet colonel of the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps Wing, member of the WVU championship debate team, member of the WVU Marching Band and was active in numerous honorary organizations, including Mountain, the highest honor given to WVU students and graduates. He was awarded Most Loyal Faculty and Staff Mountaineer in 1999 and was inducted into the Order of Vandalia, an award for the most loyal servants to West Virginia University, in 2000.
After college, Ed was assigned to active duty in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps at Nellis Air Force Base in 1954. The following year, on April 9, 1955, he married Eleanor “Ellie” Ellis, his loving and supporting wife of 66 years.
After his military service concluded, Ed returned to the northern panhandle of West Virginia to practice law. In 1969, the late Governor Arch Moore appointed him as Commissioner of Welfare for the State of West Virginia. He and his team became nationwide leaders in welfare reform. He was so proud of the people and the work they accomplished that he invited his “welfare family” to gather many times to celebrate their friendship.
In 1975, Ed was appointed to the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals and in 1977 became United States bankruptcy judge for the Southern District of West Virginia. In 1983, Ed was selected as vice president for institutional advancement at West Virginia University by E. Gordon Gee. The position embraced the government and public relations of the University and coordination of its communications, publications, alumni relations and fund-raising efforts of its independent foundation.
In his retirement, Ed enjoyed writing and publishing books, attending WVU football and basketball games, being actively involved in WVU alumni organizations, studying the Civil War as a member of the Mason-Dixon Civil War Roundtable and mentoring WVU students, especially his great-nephew, Jackson Flowers.
He is survived by his devoted wife of 66 years, Ellie Flowers; daughters, Ann Flowers and Melissa (Ty) Newberry; grandchildren, Adam (Ashley) Flowers and Kathryn (Sean) Hendricks; and great-grandchildren, Matthew Hendricks and Jack Flowers. Ed is predeceased by his son, John Flowers; parents, Walter and Stella Flowers; and brothers, Ronald Flowers and Dale Flowers.
Visitation will be at the Erickson Alumni Center in Morgantown, from 1-4 p.m. on Monday Feb. 21. A funeral service will be held at First Christian Church New Manchester, at 1 p.m. on Tuesday Feb. 22, followed by burial at Union Cemetery in New Manchester.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the WVU Heart and Vascular Institute or WVU Libraries West Virginia and Regional History Center.
Arrangements were handled by the Nixon Funeral Home in Newell.
