08/26/2026
💙🦅 ALICE LLOYD COLLEGE ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT - MR. JERRY EDWARDS III 🦅💙
Today we are proud to shine our Alumni Spotlight on Jerry L. Edwards III, Class of 1982. A lifelong resident of Lynch, Kentucky, Jerry was a member of Alice Lloyd College’s first four-year graduating class, earning his Bachelor of Arts in Education. He later continued his education at Union College, earning his Fifth-Year College Certificate/Master’s equivalent degree.
Known affectionately throughout Harlan County as Coach “E,” Jerry dedicated 32 years to teaching in the Harlan County School District, but his service to students did not end with retirement. He has continued working within the school system as a bus driver, teacher assistant, and Saferoom Detention Monitor at Harlan County High School. His commitment to young people has also extended to athletics, where he spent many years coaching football and basketball. His accomplishments include multiple county championships and being named Harlan County Coach of the Year in both 2007 and 2008.
Jerry’s heart for service reaches far beyond the classroom and athletic field. He has served Alice Lloyd College as a Board Trustee and Executive Board Trustee and has been involved with numerous educational, healthcare, and community organizations. In 2016, he received the Carolyn Sundy Diversity Achievement Award, and he continues to serve his hometown as a member of the Lynch City Council.
Jerry has also remained a strong ambassador for Alice Lloyd College throughout the years. He had the honor of serving as a commencement speaker at ALC and has encouraged numerous students from Harlan County to consider Alice Lloyd College. Through those conversations, he has shared the importance of the Purpose Road and what a life of service to others truly means—values he has continued to demonstrate throughout his own life and career.
Of all his accomplishments, Jerry is especially grateful for his loving and supportive wife, Yvonne Glover Edwards, as well as the students, friends, family, and community members who have encouraged him throughout the years. One of the greatest honors of his life came when the community renamed Lynch West Main Park the Jerry L. Edwards Park—a fitting tribute to a man who has spent a lifetime investing in others.
We are incredibly proud to call Coach “E” one of our own. His life of education, leadership, service, and commitment to his community represents so much of what it means to be an Alice Lloyd College alumnus.
Thank you, Coach “E,” for continuing to make a difference, for encouraging future generations of Eagles, and for representing Alice Lloyd College so well!
Once an Eagle 🦅 Forever Family 💙