After 28 years of serving the public, 62-year-old Dawn Edwards has retired.

Her last day was Monday, March 31.

Her plans for the future? Probably to serve the public.

“I want to do something to help people,” Edwards said.

It has been in her blood most of her life.

“I hope to help my sister with the backpack program,” she said.

Her sister is Cheryl Wilkinson, who oversees the Back Pack Buddy Program at Eufaula Schools – making sure students are fed after school, on breaks and holidays.

She also may find a part-time job to help pay her insurance.

“I would like to drive a KATS bus, taking patients to dialysis,” she said.

Dawn, who moved to Eufaula with her family at the age of four, began her public service in 1997 with the Department of Human Services as a child welfare investigator.

“I worked there five years and then (in 2002) went to the Health Department in McAlester,” she said.

She worked in tobacco prevention for a while and then became a Wellness Coordinator and from there, in 2019, became a Health Educator, teaching Tai Chi, chair exercise, CPR, first aid and other subjects.

Her extra-curricular activities have been spent with her 21-yearold daughter, Kya; her sister and her sister’s two daughters and a host of friends.

And keeping her fiveacre property mowed.

“I have plenty to do,” she said.

She and Cheryl also have a passion for traveling.

“I do a lot of cruises,” she said.

She enjoys fishing. “I love to go to the ocean and sit on the beach,” she said.

In her younger years, she loved to SCUBA dive.

“My first dive was a shark dive.”

She’s always been fascinated with sharks.

“I’d like to dive with a Great White.”