So many memories of Ed.  I met him in Cameroon where we both served in the Peace Corps

Ed's house in Abong Mbang was at a junction where I needed to switch transport coming to/ from the capitol, Yaounde, to my village in Lomie. Ed was always around and a friendly face, so I stopped to see him every time I travelled. Others have mentioned his football jerseys that he wore everywhere, so much so that he was affectionately know as Betis (beh- teese) in his neighborhood.

Ed was this amazing combination of blisteringly intelligent, deeply caring with an almost child-like curiosity, enthusiasm, and joy for life. We shared many adventures together: securing and transporting Leo the Thanksgiving turkey on bush taxis over a several hours on dusty roads from Abong Mbang to Bertoua; innumerable parties for Hallowe'en, mango season, welcomes and goodbyes; countless meals of egg/ bean sandwiches or grilled fish with baton de manioc and mayo while we played gin rummy and drank of his beloved 33 beer. I remember the never-ending joy of being able to send a 'petit' (child) down to the corner store to buy cold beer when it ran out.

Ed was a person that made you feel welcomed, safe and cared for. 

I had the chance to see a fair bit of Ed after Peace Corps. I broke my ankle about 6 months after COS just before I was about to start a new job. At the time Ed was living in either DC or WV and came up to see me. I was a bit stressed about getting back to work in a cast/ crutches and not having clothes, etc. In typical Ed fashion, he not only offered to take me out to the local mall, but waited patiently outside dressing rooms holding my bags while I shopped. He slogged through women's fashion for an entire afternoon just to help me out.

The following year, Ed was working in Wisconsin and my family went on our annual summer trip to visit my grandmother in Minnesota. We were staying in some small cabins by a lake in Crosby and Ed joined us for a few days. He won over my entire family with his knowledge of the local railways and kindness - even though his snoring in the tiny cabin kept us up at night!

And then there were many times we caught up for a beer or lunch as one of us passed through DC. The last time I would have seen Ed was the summer of 2019 in DC. Dinah and Ed were preparing for relocation to Bangkok. I'd hoped we'd be able to catch up in Asia, but COVID made that considerably more challenging and we never got the chance. Sadly, the last time we spoke was earlier this year when our group of volunteers came together over the death of another stagemate Mike. It breaks my heart to think that a pair of amazing engineers from our time in Cameroon - Mike and Ed - were lost within a year of each other.

Ed, you will be missed.  

Dinah, Freya, my thoughts are with you.