Former Louisiana Gov. EDWIN EDWARDS ENTERS HOSPICE CARE

LSN STAFF REPORT

Edwin Edwards, the four-term governor who became the face of Louisiana politics for more than a generation, entered hospice care Monday night, according to a statement from his family.
Edwards, 93, made the decision after a trip by ambulance to St. Elizabeth Hospital near his Gonzales home.
Edwards, a former Navy pilot, congressman, state senator and governor, had complained of significant pain in his right lung.
“His blood oxygen and blood pressure were both low,” said his wife Trina Edwards, “and we made the decision to go the hospital out of an abundance of caution. His strength has been failing in recent weeks but Edwin has always rallied back in the past and we’re praying for that again.”
Physicians at St. Elizabeth performed a battery of tests including X-rays and a CAT scan of both lungs but the tests revealed nothing, doctors said.
“But since I have been in and out of hospitals in recent years with pneumonia and other respiratory problems, causing a lot of people a lot of trouble, I have decided to retain the services of qualified hospice doctors and nurses at my home,” Edwards said in the family statement.
“While people assume that hospice means I’m dying, I assure everyone it’s simply a matter of good and convenient care that is less trouble for everybody. I’ve made no bones that I have considered myself on borrowed time for 20 years and we each know that all this fun has to end at some point.
“But it won’t be anytime soon for me. In fact, I am planning my 95th birthday party for next summer and hope you’ll come.”
Edwards is Louisiana’s only four-term governor, serving from 1972-80; 1984-88; and 1992-96.
Born in Marksville in Avoyelles Parish during the Great Flood of 1927, in 1944, Edwards joined the U.S. Navy when he was 17 and became a pilot. His squadron was deploying to the Pacific Theater when Japan surrendered, ending World War II.
Edwards graduated from LSU Law School in 1949, served two terms as a Crowley City Councilman in Acadia Parish; one term in the Louisiana Senate as a floor leader for governor John McKeithen; one term in Congress; and four terms as governor.
He will turn 94 Aug. 7.