Edna Ruth Sparks passed away peacefully in her sleep on Sunday, January 17, 2021 in Fort Worth, Texas. Her life will be celebrated in music and memories at a graveside service at Brown Ranch Cemetery in Coleman County on Saturday, January 23, 2021. Visitation will begin at 2 pm with a service at 3 pm. Dr. Robert Sloan will officiate. Services are entrusted to Stevens Funeral Home in Coleman. Edna Sparks was born November 6, 1926 in her parents’ small home in Talpa, Texas. She was the second of four daughters born to Fred and Anna Simonton Sparks. She grew up in Talpa and Coleman County, surrounded by a host of her Sparks and Simonton kin. The family moved to San Angelo when her father went to work for the power plant, and Edna graduated from Lake View High School in San Angelo. After graduation, she went to work for George West Insurance, the only employee in that small insurance agency. That experience, and the guidance of Mr. West, encouraged her to pursue a career in insurance, and in short order, she arrived at Brantley-Droughon Business College in Fort Worth studying for work in the insurance business. Out of school, she was hired by H.G. Reinhackel at his agency in Austin, and he mentored her into a life-long career as an insurance underwriter. She excelled in the business and was elected president of the Austin Chapter of the Texas Federation of Women in Insurance.