Staunton Star - Times - Published in the Interest of the Staunton Community for Over 143 Years

Edward Leonard Soapes, 92, died on Sunday, Nov. 28, 2021, at Stillwater Senior Living in Edwardsville, Ill. Ed was born in Staunton, a home birth, on May 24, 1929, the son of the late Ralph “Cotton” and Bertha (Scheller) Soapes. He married Barbara (Taylor) Soapes on May 7, 1951, in Pocahontas, Ark., and she survives. Earlier this year they celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary.

He was an only child, very curious, experimenting with things like jumping off the roof with an umbrella and taking apart his new mechanical Popeye to see how it worked. While the top was ruined, and he found no spi...