Judge William Edwards to be inducted into the Mount Vernon High School Hall of Fame
On Saturday, December 17, 2023, Judge William (Bill) Edwards will be inducted into the Mount Vernon High School Hall of Fame.
In 2003, Mayor Ernest D. Davis helped Bill achieve his lifelong ambition of serving the people and city of Mount Vernon as a City Court Judge. Bill’s tenure as a judge was not an easy feat, as he was often a one-man army fighting to get the justice system to become more just and proper.
He is the first non-white American to receive this special honor. Judge Bill’s legacy of justice and humanity render him greatly deserving of honor.
Edwards, who is married to Vincentian Helena Edwards and is known to his family and friends as “Bill,” was born on February 8, 1957, to Dorothy Edwards, née Clarke, and William Edwards, Sr. Bill was an exceptional baby in terms of cognitive development, and by the age of two, it was already clear that he would make an outstanding mark on society.
Bill was academically gifted and was reading as early as age two. He attended Graham Elementary School in Mount Vernon, which held a particularly special place in his heart. He impressed his teachers at Graham and continued to shine throughout his academic life in the Mount Vernon public school system and beyond.
After leaving Graham, he moved onto Nichols Junior High School, where he became president and was given the keys to the city of Mount Vernon by Mayor August P. Petrillo for his impressive performance on a special project representing the city.
At Mount Vernon High School, he received the Humanitarian Award. He graduated Mount Vernon High School, class of 1975, in the top 1 percent and was accepted to America’s premier educational institutions, including Yale and Harvard.
However, he accepted the offer to attend Williams College in Massachusetts as a Stephen P. Tyng Scholar, which paid for his full four years as an undergrad at Williams College and three years of law school at Columbia University. At Columbia University, he was also the recipient of the NAACP Defense Fund Scholarship.
Upon leaving Columbia University, Bill accepted a job with 32 BJ in New York City. He left 32 BJ after a couple of years and went to work for the New York City Department of Housing and Preservation (HPD). As a child, he experienced homelessness when his home was accidentally destroyed by fire. Therefore, it was his duty to serve by ensuring that other families had safe and secure housing.
It was while working as a managing attorney for HPD that Bill met the love of his life, Helena. Bill and Helena’s relationship was not a fairytale romance story. It began as a friendship between two individuals who had similar values and principles. Bill would often tell Helena during their friendship that he was going to marry her. But Helena always laughed and responded that he was crazy. Their friendship grew stronger and stronger. One day, Bill and Helena went down to Chinatown for Chinese food. While they were walking by a jewellery store, Bill invited Helena to join him in the store. She followed him into the store.
Bill immediately began looking at engagement rings. Helena thought he was simply joking around, but she quickly realised that he was serious after asking the clerk to allow them to see a particular engagement ring he liked. Then I asked Helena if she liked it. After Helena said, “Yes,” Bill immediately told the clerk that he wanted the ring engraved with the words, “Billy loves Helen,” and proceeded to finalise the purchase of the ring. It was only then that Helena realised that Bill was serious. They were married six months later, on July 3, 1993, at Macedonia Baptist Church in Mount Vernon by one of Bill’s former classmates from Mount Vernon High School.
This union between Bill and “Helen,” as he affectionately called her, resulted in them raising three successful children together.
