Christopher Jonathan Edwards

Christopher Jonathan Edwards, a visionary of avionics software, died on January 12, 2024 at home, surrounded by family. A resident of Huntsville, AL since 2013, Chris was born in Mason City, IA on June 22, 1966 to Roger and June (Shaw) Edwards. He graduated from Jefferson High School in 1984 and attended Kirkwood Community College before transferring to Iowa State University, earning his BS in Computer Science. Chris excelled at seeing the combination of disparate items, remembering the details, and maintaining focus to find creative solutions. Role playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons helped form most of his lifelong friendships. Chris' career in Computer Science led him from MCI and Rockwell Collins in Cedar Rapids, IA to Milwaukee, WI, and finally to Huntsville, AL where he worked for Software, Simulation, Systems Engineers (S3I) on Redstone Arsenal as a Subject Matter Expert and Chief Architect. He staunchly supported open systems architecture through the FACE Consortium and collaborated on 20 papers as well as the Technical Standards. At the apex of his career, the Modular Open Systems Approach was adopted by PEO Aviation and Chris attended the Inaugural MOSA Summit in Atlanta in September 2023. Chris met LaDawn Smith on Yahoo personals in 2000, where he described himself in their early emails as "a financially stable artist, who wants to take pictures of you in the world's most exotic locations." They wed June 10, 2001 and he is survived by her, his daughter Liz Edwards (from a previous marriage to Jeanne Meyer Kopf), siblings Mike Edwards, and Melody Williams. His love for travel led him to the European coast, Peru, Greece, and the islands of the Caribbean Sea, often on chartered yachts that he skippered himself. Chris' other passion in life was intellectual and creative challenges. He could often be found at IHOP Board Game night, or planning an escape room adventure. He led team Must Love Dogs to 2nd place in Brain Blast National Trivia championship in 2016. A memorial service was held in Huntsville. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Kirkwood Community College Scholarship Foundation.