When longtime Beasley Elementary School custodian Mike Edwards — known affectionately as “Mr. Mike” to students and staff — unexpectedly died in February, the whole community felt it.
“Even our animals missed him. A few weeks after he had passed away, there was this raccoon that kept showing up in our parking lot. Mr. Mike used to feed that raccoon,” Michelle Wood, Beasley’s principal, said. “Every day after lunch, Mr. Mike would bring out the food that the animals could eat, like carrots and apples … For a few weeks, that wasn’t happening, and the deer were looking around like, ‘What’s going on?’ Everybody missed Mr. Mike.”
Edwards worked for 37 years in the Mehlville School District, spending time at Wohlwend Elementary, Oakville Middle and Mehlville High School before transferring to Beasley where he worked for 30 years as head custodian. Edwards was known for always going “above and beyond” in every aspect of his job, educating the students in his own way.
“He taught kids, like with my son, he taught him how to be a decent human being, how to love the environment, how to take care of the environment,” Lindsey DeRoy, John Cary Early Childhood Center administrative assistant and former Beasley Elementary School parent, said. “Inside the cafeteria, he would make sure kids were respectful of their area, responsible for it, make sure they cleaned up after themselves. A lot of times, you don’t always see that. I think he taught in his own way … It kind of showed them that no matter what role you have in life, you do it to the fullest.”
After Edwards unexpectedly passed, the DeRoy family — spearheaded by Lindsey and her son Aron, Beasley class of 2017 — requested that Beasley rename its playground in honor of Mr. Mike. The Mehlville Board of Education unanimously approved this in April, and at Beasley’s back-to-school celebration held over the summer, rocks were painted in memory of Edwards. The final piece of the memorial, a sign purchased by the DeRoy family dedicating the playground to Edwards, just recently arrived and was raised, preserving his memory for years to come.
“He had a big role in my life in elementary school, so for other people to notice that and dedicate something to him means a lot — not just for him but also for the people who share memories with him,” Aron DeRoy said.
“All of the things on both of the signs embody who Mike was as a person. Every kid who interacted with him learned from him for all of those years that he was here. They wanted to be with him in the hallway, cleaning up or mopping. They always wanted to help him (and) to be like Mike, they really did. I think he just modeled what it means to be a Beasley Jaguar, everything we stand for,” Wood added.
Editor’s note: It was stated in the Oct. 30 print edition of The Call that Lindsey DeRoy is the administrative assistant at Rogers Elementary School. While she previously served in that role, DeRoy is now the administrative assistant at John Cary Early Childhood Center.
