Dorcas Erline Dailey, age 93, of Starkville, passed away on Christmas Day in Ridgeland, Mississippi.

Funeral services will be held at 2 pm on December 30th, 2021, at Welch Funeral Home in Starkville, Mississippi, with a short visitation at 1 pm preceding. Joel Barron, of Starkville Church of God, officiating. Burial will follow at Memorial Garden Park also in Starkville, Mississippi.

Erline, also known as “Perl” later in life, was born in Starkville to Sally Cassandra (Winfield) and Joe Thomas Edwards on January 3rd, 1928. She went to school at Starkville High. Shortly thereafter, Erline married Elwin McHann and a daughter was born, Dorcas Benee McHann, in July 1957. Unfortunately that daughter tragically passed, being hit by a drunk driver in 1981. After this event, Erline struck out on her own with a new lease on life. Erline went back and earned her degree from Mississippi State University.

She had a few jobs through the years, but the one she referred to the most was when she worked at Penn Mutual Life Insurance company in Jackson, Mississippi. She worked as a bookkeeper before Erline transitioned into what she called “the good life”, when she married David Thomas Dailey in 1988. Dave was an Entomologist with Dupont, and was the love of her life. They vacationed and traveled, the good life, their 15 years of marriage, before Dave’s passing in 2003.

Make no mistake you cannot sum up Erline Dailey in two short paragraphs. She was not a simple lady, she was not without opinion. She absolutely loved our Lord Jesus Christ and told anyone who would remotely listen about Him. She loved trying to guide young people to a better place. She was a social butterfly to say the least. She never forgot where she came from, and appreciated every bit of the path God put her on. Erline had an infectious smile, and even the strangest of people felt at home around her. Erline is not just a lady who passed away at 93, she left a legacy of a difference in multiple places. Through her encouragement of literally hundreds of young people, and her spreading the word of God, over years……. Erline left a legacy that will reverberate for generations to come.

Erline is preceded in death by her daughter, Benee (1981), her husband Dave (2003), her brothers, John Thomas Edwards Jr. (1999), and Malcolm Dillard Edwards (2011).

She is survived by Lindsay and Richard Palmer, of Madison, MS, and their two children, James Davis and Emma, along with a host of others who considered her simply one of their own. She is also survived by her deceased brother's children and their families; Her brother, Willie Donald (Bubba) Edwards and wife, Olene, along with their children, Michael Edwards, Renee Edwards Dotson and children, Daniel and Caitlin, and grandson, Everett Glenn Gilchrest; Daryn Edwards and wife, Erin along with Daryn's children, Blake, Garret, and Ava; and Erin's children, Ben, Wyatt, and Harleigh. Also Stacie Edwards Ball and husband, Glenn Ball and their children, Adrienne Ball, Madeline, and Reid Ball.

Memorials may be given to the Alzheimer's Foundation of America.