OSBORN, Mo. — If it weren’t for Lloyd Edwards’ distaste for English beer, he might never have met Muriel Partridge, his wife of 65 years.

Mr. Edwards was stationed in Derby, England, Ms. Partridge’s hometown, in 1943. Not one for drinking, he was suffering through a warm bottle of suds while on leave at a pub when his buddy told him they should go for a walk.

“I didn’t intend to do what I got involved in,” said Mr. Edwards from his front porch in Osborn, Mo., surrounded by three generations of family.

Some of the details of those long-gone days are hazy, but he’s fairly clear about the night he met his wife — the dark sidewalk from the pub and around the corner where he would encounter Muriel, who was on air raid patrol, for the first time. She dropped her flashlight. He picked it up. They married less than two months later.

Mrs. Edwards, 82, passed away Sunday.

Daughter Beverly (Kirkendoll), was followed by sons Barry and Brian, both of whom were born in Missouri. Gathered together at their parents’ home Thursday, a day after their mother’s funeral, they shared stories about their mother and prodded their father in an effort to stir up happy memories from the couple’s time together in England.

One of the best times he had was touring London with his wife and father-in-law. The Luftwaffe had reduced sections of the city to piles of bricks, as he recalls, but the country boy was enthralled all the same.

Home from the war, Mr. Edwards sent for his wife and firstborn, Beverly, who came over the Atlantic Ocean on the Queen Mary. The city girl moved to the farm and she tried hard to fit in, but never let go of her English roots. Family members say she never lost her English mannerisms and “lingo.”

“My mom,” said Brian, “she was English and proud of it ... never let us forget it.”

Kidney stew, soft boiled eggs and french fries, tea, fish and chips, and treacle tarts. Mrs. Edwards’ children grew up on English “cuisine” knowing that their mom wasn’t the same as everyone else’s.

Mrs. Kirkendoll said the children were trying to Americanize their mother just as much as she was trying to hold on to her roots. But the give and take proved healthy as six grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren (some of whom resemble Mrs. Edwards) carry on the matriarch’s qualities.

“We loved her accent,” said grandson J.C. Kirkendoll. “She was always a gentle woman.”

But she also was as tough as an English bulldog. Across the street from their home in Osborn is the city park — a two-acre expanse that she would push-mow with her husband. She’d also garden for hours and hours. If the night came, she’d garden with a flashlight.

“She was a good companion,” said Mr. Edwards.

Jimmy Myers can be reached at jimmym@npgco.com