Vernon Mourns Loss Of Cliff Edwards, Music Historian, Former RDA Exec

VERNON, CT — Cliff Edwards, a Vernon native who was the former head of the Rockville Downtown Association, the owner of a popular music store in town and a local music historian, died Suddenly on Friday.

His family made the announcement on social media over the Easter weekend. Edwards had retired to Cape Coral, FL, several years ago.

One of Edwards pastimes was music. He was a personal friend of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member and fellow Rockville native Gene Pitney and was a member of the Pitney commemorative committee. He called it "a great day" when a memorial bench was placed in Vernon in honor of Pitney, who also has a display inside town hall.

He was very active in internet record sales and was a part-time DJ. His customers lauded his collection as one of the finest in the country.

Edwards was a retired general manager at Music City Record Distributors and owned Record Heaven of Vernon.

Edwards studied Multiple Systems Sciences Disciplines at IBM Systems Sciences Institute, studied at Manchester Community College and studied Telephony at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He was a graduate of Rockville High School.

At the RDA from 2010 to 2011, Edwards was passionate about Downtown Rockville and was a staunch advocate of developing the area while keeping the character of an old mill town.

He was also known as a family man. An outpouring of emotional tributes have shown up on Edwards' Facebook page since his family announced his passing.

Some are:

• I have no words for the sadness I am feeling. Cliff was a great man who will be truly missed by all.
• Cliff and I were classmates in the eighth grade in Rockville, 65 years ago. Through Facebook we reconnected about five years ago. Cliff was a wonderful and caring person.
• I am so saddened by this news. My heart goes out to Mary and their children and grandchildren. Cliff loved his family fiercely. I am praying for all of you.