Craig E. Eder

EDER The Rev. CRAIG EDUARD EDER Of Washington, DC, and Falmouth, Maine, died on Sunday, November 22, 2009, at Sibley Hospital of complications related to congestive heart failure. He was born in 1919 in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania, the son of the Reverend Charles and Wilhemina Eder. After graduating from the Penn Charter School, Harvard University, and the Virginia Theological Seminary, he was ordained a minister in the Episcopal Church in 1945. Following parish work in West Virginia, he became Chaplain at St. Albans School for Boys in 1953, where he remained for the next 20 years. He will be remembered by generations of St. Albans students for his gentle manner, good humor, and leadership on many summer trips, whether to do volunteer work in West Virginia, South Dakota or Tanganyika, or to bicycle through the British Isles and Europe. Retiring from St. Albans in 1973, "Rev" Eder, as he was known, served as interim pastor and priest-in-charge at numerous parishes in the Diocese of Washington from Potomac to St. Mary''s City. In 1975, he became Assistant to the Rector at St. Columba''s Church, with which he was connected for the next 34 years. St. Columba''s recently honored him as Associate Rector Emeritus. Since the early 1980''s he was deeply involved with the Friends of St. Benedict, and, more recently, with the Iona Poets Group. Mr. Eder is survived by his wife, Edith; with whom he spent almost 40 summers at their home on Casco Bay; his sister, Shirley and her husband, the Rev. Joseph Laird; nephew, Craig Laird; nieces, Holly Laird and Heather Laird Beaudry; step-children, Edith Gilliss Faile, William Gilliss and John Gilliss; along with a host of loving in-laws, grandchildren, grandnieces and nephews, friends, colleagues, parishioners and former students. A memorial service in Rev. Eder''s honor will be held at St. Columba''s Church, 4201 Albemarle Street NW, Washington, DC on Saturday, December 12 at 1 p.m. Interment will be private. Honoring his great love of his many dogs, his family suggests that donations be made in his name to the Washington Humane Society, 7319 Georgia Avenue, NW. Washington, DC 20012, or to the charity of one''s choice. The family would like to express their gratitude to the staff of The Methodist Home of Washington, DC for the wonderful care that they provided over the last several years.