Edna Schwenk

Edna Schwenk, age 85, of Erie, passed away peacefully at her daughter’s home on Wednesday, June 7, 2023, surrounded by family.

She was born in Coaldale, PA on August 28, 1937, daughter of the late David Michael Walter and Hattie Boar Price. Edna’s family moved about much during her youth. She graduated from Las Vegas High School in 1955, but always considered Leeper, PA, her hometown.

Edna loved to laugh and had a knack for finding humor in even difficult circumstances. She always had “one more thing” to tell you and was fond of saying at the feasts she prepared for her large family, “If you go away hungry, it’s your own fault.” Perhaps her most beautiful gift was the ability to deal with obstacles and setbacks with grace and a light heart. She overcame disappointments that would have defeated many folks. Not Edna. She mastered the art of turning the page and moving on. She was the best kind of fighter—practical, gentle, wise, and effective. She wanted to make the world a better place, a desire that those close to her witnessed every day. As a mother, she was involved in PTO, went to her children’s athletic events, and fed her family well on a limited income by making herself the queen of discounts and coupons and stretching spaghetti sauce with tomato juice. Everybody in her household had what was necessary because Edna “found a way.” As a citizen, she did, indeed, make the world better by starting close to home.

In addition to working tirelessly for political candidates she believed in, she established a Neighborhood Watch in part of the city, and ran for City Council as a Republican in a heavily Democratic town. The Erie Times-News endorsed Edna’s candidacy, praising her as “a breath of fresh air.” If you’ve seen a mess that was cleaned up or a problem put right on Erie’s lower east side over the last 40 years, it’s a decent bet that Edna Schwenk had put her shoulder to the wheel in question. In 2001, she received the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Governor’s Award for her work with community crime prevention. As a Christian, Edna had a quiet, but powerful faith. In keeping with her problem-solving genius, she simply tried to help. She drove the kid who cut her grass to a department store to buy some decent shirts when she learned that the one he wore while pushing the mower was the only one he owned. She got a neighborhood friend a new pair of boots because she saw that his had holes in them. In such ways and more, Edna’s life was a sermon—though she would laugh at that idea and say, “Yeah, right!”

Along with her parents, Edna is preceded in death by two brothers, Robert and Wayne; as well as a sister, Anita.

She leaves behind to cherish her memory, a daughter, Kathleen Coleman (John); five sons, James Schwenk (Darlene), David Schwenk (Dorian), Tim Schwenk (Colleen), Charles Schwenk (Brenda), and William Schwenk (Vicki); ten grandchildren, Tiffany, Courtney, Brittany, Elena, Micah, Caitlin, Brandon, Gabriel, Molly, Charles, Ashley, and Jordon; ten great-grandchildren, Kennedy, Cole, Killian, Gavin, Kinsley, Thomas, Vera, Prescott, Braelynn, and Brixon.

Friends are invited to call on the family at the Burton Quinn-Scott Funeral Home, West Ridge, 3801 West 26th Street, on Sunday from 2 until the time of memorial service there at 4 pm.

Send condolences at www.burtonquinnscott.com.