By Angie Wallace

When Patti and LaVell Edwards arrived in Harlem in the summer of 2002, they found doors rotting off the small branch entrance and found school kids playing on tennis courts filled with beer bottles.

During their 18-month public affairs mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Northeast, the couple met with former San Diego State football player Duke Ferguson, who asked them to help organize the first high school football team in Harlem.

While the Hall of Fame coach was no longer pacing the sidelines at a BYU football game, he hadn’t completely lost his talent to put together inspiring football teams, so he and Patti went to work.

“We visited and became involved and got it started with approvals from the New York Board of Education and the Activities Association and got a hold of High School Athletics,” LaVell said. “There were a lot of things to get set up, and we had to buy equipment. We helped him to be able to do that. It was a great experience.”

The couple also faced many obstacles for the project, including a lack of funding, facilities and support. In fact, the athletes didn’t have enough money to pay for subway trips to practice. Despite having so many hurdles, Patti said it was one of their most rewarding experiences along with seeing the branch in Harlem grow to the size of a ward.

“One of the most exciting things we did was to help establish a football team; that was really exciting,” she said. “We think the public affairs and the football team we did was really beneficial to the people in Harlem. When they recognized we wanted to uplift and be apart of their community, they opened their arms a little more.”

Their work in Harlem is one of many purposeful projects the couple has tackled since LaVell’s retirement. The couple also served on the temple construction committee for the Manhattan New York Temple while serving there. During their experience as committee members, they organized a dinner featuring R-Utah, Sen. Orrin Hatch, as the speaker and invited many New York legislators, judges and UN ambassadors to attend.

“It turned out to be a marvelous evening,” LaVell said. “Afterwards, [Congressman Charles] Rangel was telling Patti that if the Church needs any help, just let him know. About that time, they were getting the chapel ready up there. Patti got in good with them.”

The couple also spoke at a number of firesides and training sessions all over the Northeast. They went as west as Detroit as south as Washington D. C. and as north as Nova Scotia. Although they completed their mission almost two years ago, they haven’t stopped uplifting members and nonmembers all over the West.

They stay busy these days with fireside assignments and also work with a number of local charities, including the National Kidney Foundation of Utah, Wasatch Mental Health and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Utah County, which Patti served as president when the club had only four boys.

“It’s a wonderful organization for our area because kids go there after school and the majority are single parents,” Patti said. “What makes it nice for the singles parents is when they pick their kids up, the kid’s homework is done and it’s very structured.”

LaVell also contributes to some of these charities by playing in a number of celebrity golf tournaments to raise money. In fact, he said his favorite celebrity golf experience was when he recently spent a long day of golf with his former player Chad Lewis, who played for the Philadelphia Eagles for eight seasons.

Although LaVell stays humble about his golf game, his wife Patti doesn’t mind bragging on him. Not only did she say her husband is really good at his favorite hobby, she also pointed out that he has played at most of the top golf courses in the world.

“I’ve played six or seven of them, a number of them,” LaVell said. “The one that’s ranked No. 1 I haven’t played. There’s one in Australia I’ve played and a couple in Scotland I’ve played. It’s exciting. I’ve enjoyed courses like Pebble Beach, Cyprus Point and Spyglass. Those are three courses right there close together, and they’re the best kind of courses as you’ll ever get.”

Although Patti doesn’t golf, she says LaVell jumps at any opportunity to get out and play. His farmer tan gives his love of golf away along with the way he lights up when he talks about it.

“I’ve played at some venues where they’ve played the U.S Open; most of them are too much for me,” he said with a laugh.



Copyright Brigham Young University 29 Aug 2005