Edwards (Rudolph “Spider”) is born in Philadelphia.

Spider Edwards subsequently moves to Roxbury, graduates from from Brighton High School, and goes to work for General Motors in Framingham. After being laid off, the single father raising four gets a job on the “bull gang” that prepares Boston Garden for sporting events in 1962. Edwards becomes known for the fashionable fedoras and shined, dress shoes he wears sweeping the parquet floor during timeouts at Celtics games. He retires when the Fleet Center replaces the Garden in 1997, but is called back to give the floor a last swipe before it, too, is retired in 1999. Edwards dies in Roxbury on July 27, 2016.