With heavy hearts, we announce Edward “Ed” John McShane passed away unexpectedly on January 5th, 2025, surrounded by his loving family.

Ed was born into a growing Irish-Catholic family on July 30th, 1957 in Detroit, Michigan. Growing up in Livonia, Michigan, Ed was one of eight children to Christine Elizabeth McShane and Lawrence Edward McShane. He served as an altar boy for many years at St. Genevieve Catholic Church in Livonia. After graduating from Bentley High School in Livonia, Michigan, and briefly working for Pine Lumber, Ed enlisted into the United States Military in 1977, against his parents’ wishes. Ed was a proud military veteran who served his country overseas as an Aircraft Loadmaster, in squadron VRC-50 for the U.S. Navy. Ed also served stateside for the U.S. Airforce Reserves at Selfridge Airforce Base in Harrison Township, Michigan. He received Honorable Discharge from both branches. Throughout his time in the service, Ed was quite the photographer, documenting his travels and experiences around the world including his time spent in Australia, China, Guam, Japan (Okinawa, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Nagasaki, and Hiroshima), Korea, The Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, as well as various places in the United States – California (San Francisco & San Diego), Hawaii, Illinois, Tennessee (Memphis), and Texas.

As a civilian, Ed was a hardworking, skilled maintenance and repair mechanic for various automotive and industrial production manufacturers. He attained his Aircraft Mechanic Certification from the Department of Transportation through training at American Flight and Technology in Waterford, Michigan.

In the late 1980’s, Ed worked at Rollin Landscaping as an equipment mechanic, where he met the love of his life, Leslie. Their courtship evolved into marriage in February 1990, in St. Thomas U.S Virgin Islands. They settled down in Waterford, Michigan where they bought their first house and welcomed their only child, Larry.

Ed was an avid outdoorsman who enjoyed hunting, fishing, snowmobiling, boating, and camping. He could fix almost anything; he was ‘hands-on’ in transforming/remodeling every room in our home. Passions outside of home renovation included: attending local airshows with Larry (Ed loved everything about airplanes), shooting at the rifle range, building and launching model rockets, watching Clint Eastwood flicks, reading Tom Clancy novels, learning to play the guitar, listening to his favorite musicians on vinyl: Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, The Doors, and Stephen Stills - to name a few. He was also a ‘mean dancer!’

Ed proudly supported all of Larry’s extracurricular sports throughout grade school, high school and beyond. He was assistant coach for Larry’s Little League team and his mite, squirt and pee wee hockey teams at Lakeland Ice Arena. Ed drove the family to several ice rinks throughout Michigan and Canada to cheer on Larry during his junior hockey career as well.

Ed is survived by his wife of 34 years, Leslie McShane; son Lawrence McShane and daughter in-law Hali McShane; brothers, David (partner Pat Mack), Dennis, John and Andrew; sisters, Louise (Ken) Lannoye, Eileen (Brian) Postma, and Patricia Church; nieces, nephews, cousins and extended family members and friends. He is preceded in death by his parents, Christine Elizabeth McShane and Lawrence Edward McShane.

Thank you, ‘Edmundo’, for supporting our hopes and dreams. We miss you dearly and will love you always.

“Jumbo Mabari”

In lieu of flowers, we wanted to provide the option to give back to the Oakland County International Airport “Festival of Flight”, in honor of Ed. The Festival of Flight takes place annually in August and was an event that Ed loved to attend.

“OCIA Air Fair Mission: OCIA Air Fair is a 501(c)4 non-profit corporation with a mission to promote aviation safety, education, training, research, and public awareness in Oakland County. OCIA is an acronym for Oakland County International Airport based in Waterford Township, MI. The OCIA Air Fair is managed by a volunteer group of pilots, aviation professionals and general enthusiasts with a special interest and passion for promoting aviation, educating the public on aviation’s rich history, and introducing aviation to future generations. The organization hosts an annual air show event at OCIA to excite the community about the business, pleasure and military uses of aviation, and the economic impact it contributes to the local economy.”

Any donations can be done directly through our Everloved site (https://everloved.com/life-of…) and will be given to the OCIA as a lump sum donation.

Ed's memorial service with military honors followed by a celebration of life will be held in March. 

Please contact Leslie, Larry or Hali and/or email ejm.memorial3@gmail.com for details.

Send to someone

Share this obituary with others

https://everloved.com/life-of/edward-mcshane/obituary/

Copy