At 9:04 p.m. on Monday, August 11, 2025, Richard Leolen Edwards, a cherished son, brother, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, philosopher, and friend, departed from this life. As the angels carried Richard into paradise, he was encircled by his five daughters, two grandchildren, adored sons-in-law Raymond and Walter, and Ginger, his loving wife and daughter’s mother.
Richard Edwards, the second of four sons born to Eugene and Perneiche Edwards, was born on August 20, 1950, in Muskogee, Oklahoma. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration from Quincy College in 1976 after graduating from Quincy Senior High School in 1968.
Richard established The Pizza Works, a prosperous restaurant chain, in 1977. It became one of the most well-known pizza companies in the Midwest and expanded into a regional chain that operated in Illinois, Missouri, and Iowa. Together with his brothers Stephen and Bill, as well as his friends Bruce Johnson and Kenny Castagno, he helped create Pizza Works, one of the most popular pizza joints of the 1980s and 1990s.
Outside of work and family, Richard enjoyed being in nature and hunting ducks and riding horses. As a self-described cowboy, he and his brother Stephen loved to ride and take part in cattle roundups in Colorado and New Mexico with their horses, Jake and Rum. He frequently told his family and friends the tales of The Man from Snowy River and Lonesome Dove because he loved them.
Richard was a man who lived out loud and loved sincerely, and everyone who knew him loved him back.
In addition to hundreds of devoted friends, Richard’s seven daughters—Kelly, Brooke, Elizabeth, Natalie, Jenna, Madison, and Morgan—as well as 17 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren survive him. His mother, Pernieche Alice Edwards, father, Eugene O. Brien Edwards, and brothers, William O. Brien Edwards, Stephen Eugene Edwards, and Jerry Oscar Edwards, all passed away before him.
He and his mother will be buried together at Bella Vista, Arkansas. On Thursday, August 14, from 3 to 6 p.m., Molly’s in Soulard, St. Louis, MO, will host a celebration of life. You can donate to Ducks Unlimited or any other charity in his honor.
Richard admired and emulated the legendary Bob Marley:
In actuality, you will be harmed by everyone; you only need to identify the people who are worth your pain.
A Single Love
