New Haven Independent

The funeral for Rev. Edmonds, who died Nov. 6 at age 90, took place Saturday afternoon. (Click here for a previous story.)

Dozens of family members entered Center Church on the Green by walking through an honor guard made up of labor and community activists (pictured), to call to mind Edmonds’ decades-long struggles for justice.

Edmonds was remembered as a mentor, a beloved father, a wise grandfather, and a civil rights pioneer. And, by Mayor John DeStefano (pictured), as someone who could always be counted on to speak his mind — even, the mayor joked, if it wasn’t what he wanted to hear.

Sounding like a preacher himself, DeStefano said, “The world didn’t change for the better [during Edmonds’ long life] by accident.” He said Edmonds was about changing the world by not changing his firmly held beliefs. Click here to hear more.

More than a dozen of Edmonds’ fraternity brothers linked arms to sing their song in his honor. Several others in attendance sang or played musical tributes. Long-time activist and close family friend Clifton Graves joked that his father, Clifton, Sr., and Edmonds (pictured) by now were “walkin’ around Heaven looking for barbecue.” Then, with great theatrical flourish, he recited the James Weldon Johnson poem, “The Creation,” making editorial comments along the way. Click here to listen.

Granddaughter Toyin Mbalia Spellman played a beautiful oboe solo. Click here to listen.

And State Rep. Toni Walker, the youngest of Edmond’s four daughters (pictured, with a photo of her father behind her), read — interspersed with tears — a litany of memories. She said just before he died, she told her dad, “Wherever I walk, you’ll walk with me. Whatever I say, you’ll say with me. And whatever I do, you’ll do with me. And whatever I see, you’ll see with me.” It was mentioned earlier that Edmonds was legally blind, but he didn’t let that stop him from anything he set out to do.

Recovering from her grief, Walker told the story of her father’s regular fishing trips with his sons-in-law, which she called “their testosterone weekend.” She described his favorite fishing hat, the brown cap with the pretty green leaf, and sparked gales of laughter in the church when she explained what kind of leaf it was. Click here to listen.

Former Yale Chaplain the Rev. Jerry Streets gave the official eulogy.

Click on the play arrow to watch the funeral, videotaped by Tom Ficklin.

Click on the play arrow to watch the rest of the funeral.