Edna Alice Carter, 72, passed away August 23, 2026, at Helen
Keller Hospital, Sheffield, AL. A celebration of her life, will be Sunday, October 11, Shelter #2, McFarland Park, time TBD.
Edna was born on August 10, 1954, in Moulton, Alabama to
Sarah and Edward Carter. At an early age she became an
avid reader and showed a talent for music.
Her sister Mary lovingly recalls the time she, as an upset 5-
year-old, was comforted by her big sister Edna, who made up
an entertaining story entitled “Mama’s Horse,” and
illustrating it, as she spoke, with drawings.
Music being a big part of their lives as they grew up, Edna
and her siblings all enjoyed singing in the choir at 1 st
Methodist Church of Florence.
Edna, her three younger siblings, Oliver, Joan and Mary,
along with their cousin, Suzannah McDonald, were so
enamored by the 1968 musical film Oliver!, that they would
reenact it, rehearsing every day after school, under Edna’s
stern direction. They also enjoyed singing Civil War songs
while touring battlefields of that era with their parents. Even
in adulthood, Edna could still remember the lyrics to all of
these songs.
An excellent student, while attending Bradshaw High School,
in Florence, AL, Edna was allowed to skip a grade and
consequently enrolled in the University of North Alabama at an early age. She eventually settled on a major in accounting,
but she left before graduating.
After marrying Kent Liles, she gave birth to a son, Israel Lee
Liles. After her divorce from Liles, Edna moved to Phoenix,
AZ, where she sang with bands and worked in a music store.
Returning home to Florence, AL, Edna signed as a
songwriter with Cactus Studio, in Sheffield. At this time she
also sang in several local bands, including Rocking Horse. In
1983 Edna married musician Charles Rose and they
performed in several bands together, including The Raiders
of the Lost Dog, The Chuck Rivers Band, The Carter Sisters,
where they were joined by Edna’s sister Mary, and the Lyman
Mitchell Big Band.
In 1987 Edna enrolled once again at UNA and began working
in the accounting firm of Lynch and Lynch. In 1988 she
graduated with honors, with a bachelor’s degree in
accounting.
The family then moved to Nashville, TN, where Edna worked
at several accounting firms and enrolled in graduate school
at Belmont University, earning her Master of Business
Administration degree and once again graduating with
honors.
In 1990 Edna took the CPA exam. Coming home after the final
day of the exam, Edna, in tears, told Charles that she was
certain she had flunked the final section of the exam. It turns
out that she did not flunk it, receiving the John Glenn Award
for coming in 1 st in the State of Tennessee on the exam. She
also was awarded the Elijah Watt Sells certificate “in recognition of performance with high distinction in
submitting papers of outstanding merit for the Uniform Certified Public Accountant Examination.”
At this time, Edna worked at the large Nashville CPA firm of
Crosslin Vaden & Associates. Then in 1993, the family moved
back to the Muscle Shoals, AL area, where Edna became
Chief Financial Officer at Lexington Fabrics, a textile
company located in nearby Lexington, AL.
In the late 1990’s she worked as a CPA at Abroms &
Associates in Florence, until having to retire for health
reasons.
In 2001, along with her husband Charles, Edna was active in
Citizens for Saving the TVA Trail, a group formed to save the
TVA Nature Trail Area from being devastated by construction
of a golf course. In 2002 she and Charles were founding
members of Shoals Environmental Alliance, Edna authoring
that group’s charter and by-laws.
As both her mother and her aunt Dot McDonald were, Edna
was a gifted artist, known both for her excellent drawings
and paintings, adept at both portraiture and landscapes, both
impressionism and realism. She became skilled in the “Old
Masters” technique of layering multiple coats of transparent
paint on a canvas to create a rich glow and hue. Several
professional artists in the Shoals have paintings by Edna in
their collections.
Edna was a very giving person, volunteering her time to
teach English classes to students hoping to earn their GED certificate. An animal lover, she also rescued many stray cats
and dogs that wandered up and took in others that needed to be rehomed. She once even took in a nestling pigeon, whose
mother had been killed in a building demolition.
Edna was preceded in death by her parents, Sarah and
Edward Carter, her brother Oliver Carter, her sister Joan
Carter, and her granddaughter Madeline Grace Boyett.
She is survived by husband, Charles Rose, sister Mary
Young (husband Donny), son Israel Lee Liles, nieces Whitney
Farris & Chia Nagai, nephews Kou Nagai, and Sho, Timothy &
Nicky Carter, and sisters-in-law, Lisa Liles, Michiko Carter
and Aiko Nagai.
The family wishes to express its heartfelt appreciation to the
physicians, and especially the 2nd floor nurses and staff at
Helen Keller Hospital, that took such good care of Edna
during her final days there.
Memorials may be made to:
PAWS (Pets Are Worth Saving)
http://shoalspaws.com
The Food Bank of North Alabama
https://foodbanknorthal.org
NAMI Shoals
NAMI Shoals | NAMI
Southern Environmental Law Center
Ways to Give – Southern Environmental Law Center
