Sheila May Edwards, 73 of Harrisonville, MO died Friday, May 21, 2010 at the Kansas City Hospice House in Kansas City, MO. Memorial services will be held at 1:00 p.m. Wednesday, May 26, 2010 at the Fillmore Chapel in Unity Village, MO. Cremation. The family asks in lieu of flowers, contributions be made to KU Endowment (Breast Cancer Prevetion Center), Mail Stop 3012, 3901 Rainbow Blvd., Kansas City, KS 66160.

Sheila, who was a native of Hannibal, MO, was born June 23, 1936, the daughter of Roy B. and Mary F. (Tapley) Ross. She lived in Avon Park, FL before moving to Harrisonville in the early 1980's.

Sheila revealed a great passion for the visual arts from a very early age and took advantage of every chance to study all forms of art as she was growing up. She studied Art at Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois, the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida and Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. She explored sculpturing, architectural rendering, acrylic and oil painting and pottery throwing but found her true love when she began to seriously study watercolor at the Indianapolis Art League in 1978. During her professional career she had attended numerous workshops with such renowned painters as Floyd Hopper, Bruce Haughey, Alfred Currier, Bob Byerly, Ken Hosmer and Cathy Johnson and spent countless hours painting in an ongoing effort to satisfy her desire to improve upon and expand her mastery of watercolor.

Sheila was a signature member of both the Baltimore Watercolor Society and the Kansas Watercolor Society and a member of various other art organizations. Galleries in Maryland, Illinois, Florida and Missouri have represented her work. She has paintings in private and corporate collections throughout the United States.

Sheila was preceded in death by her parents and her husband, Darryl on August 4, 1999. She is survived by one son, Roy Edwards of Venice, CA and one brother, Ames Leroy Ross of Hannibal, MO.