Dr. Eduard Ellis de Lange

1947 - 2023

Eduard Ellis de Lange died on May 24, 2023, after a long illness. He leaves behind his wife, Francesca, with whom he was married for more than 52 years, and his two daughters, Mabet with her husband, Conor McNeill, and Sacha with her husband, Josh Alloy, and four wonderful grandchildren, Alette, Pavine, Melina, and Sander. Eduard, or Eddy as he was called by family and friends, was born in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. He was the oldest child of Bob de Lange and Henriëtte de Lange-van Raalte. His father was a well-known actor and director in The Netherlands. From the time he was two years old, he lived in The Hague with his parents, his brother, Daniel, and his sister, Désirée. His parents and sister predeceased him. His paternal grandmother was killed in the Holocaust.

He met his wife, Francesca, at the high school they both attended, The Nederlandsch Lyceum. After graduating from high school in 1966, they both went to Leiden University, where Eduard completed medical school.

From a very young age he wanted to become a doctor. After medical school, he underwent training for two years in a community hospital in The Netherlands to acquire the necessary medical, surgical, and obstetrical skills to work in Ghana, where there was a shortage of doctors. He also took a course in Tropical Medicine at the Royal Tropical Institute in Amsterdam. In 1975, Eduard and Francesca were sponsored by The Netherlands Department of Foreign Affairs to go to Ghana for a period of two years. They went with their then 9-month-old daughter, Mabet, to work in a small 110-bed community hospital in Hwidiem, in the district of Brong-Ahafo, where Eduard was the only doctor during most of their time there and where their younger daughter, Sacha, was born.

After returning to The Netherlands, he became interested in radiology, inspired by the then-ongoing early developments of non-invasive imaging techniques for clinical diagnosis, especially magnetic resonance imaging. He subsequently did his radiology residency training at Leiden University hospital. After his residency was completed in 1983, Eduard was offered a one-year position as a radiologist at the University of Virginia. He and his wife had always wanted to spend some time abroad again, so they welcomed the chance to go to the United States with their two young children. The one year became two years, and then they decided to stay and settle in Charlottesville. Eduard joined the faculty of the University of Virginia Department of Radiology and Medical Imaging in 1983 and retired as Professor Emeritus in 2018, after which he continued to work on an as-needed basis until the end of 2022. He published more than 150 scientific papers, co-authored two books, and was a recipient of an NIH grant and numerous commercial grants. Clinical work, teaching, and research gave him great satisfaction throughout his long career.

Music always played an important role for Eduard. He started taking piano lessons at age six and also took violin lessons for a number of years. However, as he became inspired by the contemporary music he heard over the radio, such as jazz, pop and music by The Beatles, he concentrated mostly on the piano. Eduard composed his first piece at age thirteen and also composed and performed the music for his high school musical and medical school cabaret. He continued to play the piano and compose music throughout his life and published his music on some of the major streaming outlets.

When his grandchildren were born, he found enormous pleasure in being a grandfather. Growing up, he missed having grandparents himself, as they all had died before he was born. Being near his grandchildren and seeing them grow up gave him many very happy moments and memories.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Free Clinic or Hospice of the Piedmont.

Condolences may be sent to the family at Hill and Wood Funeral Home.