Former Gov. Edwin Edwards’ first wife, Elaine Edwards, has died at the age of 89. She was married to Edwards during three of his four terms as governor.
Shortly after Edwin Edwards’ first term began in 1972, he appointed his wife to complete the term of a U.S. senator who had died.
Edwin Edwards’ biographer, Leo Honeycutt, confirmed that she died of respiratory problems Monday morning at the home of daughter Victoria Edwards in Denham Springs. Honeycutt says she had been in failing health for the last couple of years.
Elaine Schwartzenburg and Edwin Edwards grew up together in Marksville. They married in 1949. She was 20, and he was 21. They divorced in 1989, after his third term as governor. She is survived by their four children.
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