Deloris Edwards

Elma Deloris Burch Mankin passed from this life March 1, 2024. A visitation for family and friends will be Friday, March 8, 2024 at 11:00 a.m. at Elmwood Funeral Home, 5750 Highway 277, Abilene, Texas, followed by a funeral service at 12:00 noon. A reception and family remembrance will be conducted in Nashville later this year.

Deloris was born to Otis and Olive Burch on August 6, 1938 in Middlebourne, W.V. She and her brother, Doyle Gene Burch, enjoyed life among a large family across West Virginia and the Ohio Valley. She attended schools in W.V. and Arizona and graduated from Lisbon High School in Ohio. Her childhood memories are of spending significant time on Little Sanco Creek at the foot of Owl's Nest Mountain behind her grandparents' log cabin. She graduated from Lipscomb University and studied graduate accounting at Vanderbilt University. She taught accounting and business in the Salem, Ohio, high school, and at Ohio Valley College, Parkersburg, W.V. On Nov. 29, 1963, she married Jimmie Moore Mankin, of Atlanta, Ga. The couple were a remarkable team of pulpit minister and wife at Central Church of Christ in Cincinnati, at Central Church of Christ in Chattanooga, Tenn., and at Madison Church of Christ, Madison, Tenn., the largest congregation in the fellowship at that time. In 1986, they moved to Abilene Christian University, where Jimmie served as chair of undergraduate Bible and Deloris worked in the Provost's office. Deloris was known as the consummate minister's wife, including for her deep spirituality and wisdom, as well as for hosting church members and large, annual parties. She traveled with Jimmie when he was invited to speak to numerous churches across the nation and, especially, criss-crossing all sections of Texas. For many years she served as secretary of the national Blue Ridge Family Encampment, which Jimmie directed. They were named to the eldership at the Highland Church of Christ and to the Board of the Herald of Truth. Their last pulpit role was at the Westgate Church of Christ in Abilene.

Following Jimmie's death in 1998, Deloris was married to Bill Van Cleave, a long-time member and an elder of the Westgate Church. After Bill's death in 2008, she married Jarrell Edwards, long-time Abilene businessman and member of the Hillcrest Church of Christ.

Deloris Burch Mankin Van Cleave Edwards is preceded in death by her parents; brother; and two husbands, Jimmie Moore Mankin and William F. "Bill" Van Cleave;

She is survived by her third husband, Jarrell Edwards of Abilene. She also is survived by her children, Alice Mankin LaMascus (Scott) of Edmond, Okla., Jeffrey Ashley Mankin of Nashville, and Benjamin Preston Mankin (Amanda) of Franklin, Tenn. Surviving grandchildren include Parker LaMascus (Kennedy) of Philadelphia, Pa., Hadley LaMascus (and girlfriend Lauren Lee), of Rochester, N.Y., Mallory Mankin, Franklin, Tenn., and Mark Mankin, Franklin, Tenn. She also is survived by loving step-families: Ken and Charla Van Cleave and their children Vince and Laci, Robert and Carie Van Cleave and children, and Ed and Jana Emerson and children.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial gifts be directed to the Mankin Scholarship Fund at Abilene Christian University, ACU Box 29132, Abilene, Texas, 79699 or by calling 800-588-1514.