James O. Edwards ’55, a 1992 SDSU Distinguished Alum and former president of Banner Associates, died June 10, 2016, at the Estelline Nursing and Care Center.
The civil engineering graduate spent three years in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers after graduation and then returned to Brookings to go back to work for Banner, where he had worked during college. He eventually rose to management positions, serving on the board of directors from 1972 until his retirement in 1995. He was president and board chairman from 1989 to 1995.
From 1972 to 1994 he also served on the board of Horizons, an aerial surveying affiliate of Banner. He was president and board chairman from 1989 to 1994, when the firm was sold.
He served multiple terms on the SDSU Foundation board of directors, was a charter member of the Stan Marshall Golf Classic Committee and was on the SDSU Athletic Department Advisory Board. He also was engineer for the Fighting Stallions memorial statue project in Pierre to honor Gov. George S. Mickelson and the seven others who died in the 1993 plane crash.
Edwards, 83, of Brookings, was born March 18, 1933, in Colton. He married Evelyn Van Liere Aug. 26, 1955. Survivors include his wife; two daughters, Edie (Glenn) Ramstad, of Ada, Minnesota, and Amy (Steve) Kurtenbach, of Darnestown, Maryland; and a son, James (Rita) Edwards, of Madison.
