D. Edward Kontz Jr.

Ed Kontz (neé D. Edward Kontz, Jr.; Donald Edward Kontz, Jr), age 81, passed away quietly at home after an extended illness, surrounded by family.

Ed was born in Portland OR to Donald Edward and Emily Gosline Kontz of Camas, WA. He spent 3 years in Camas; the family moved to Hillsboro OR, then to Portland where Ed attended Glencoe Grade School and Washington High School. He was on the wrestling team in high school. He graduated from Portland State University with a degree in biology. During the Cold War he spent 4 years in the Navy in Puerto Rico in a blockhouse intercepting and processing Morse code communications as part of the broader U.S. signals intelligence efforts. In the Navy where his schedule provided several days off at a time he served as a mechanic for decrepit cars on the island but this service was invaluable because there were so few working cars on the island. He ordered parts from Sears & Roebuck to get these cars running again.

Ed met his wife Vernita because he lived next door to her and their bedrooms faced each other. After Ed left the Navy, in 1969, Ed and Vernita were married. They lived in Portland before moving to Pullman, WA where Ed received his Architecture degree using the GI bill. Following Ed's graduation in 1973, they moved to Lincoln City and Ed started his Architectural Internship.

In 1975 the couple moved to Portland, OR. In May of 1976, their daughter Marlo was born. This was followed by a move back to Lincoln City and the establishment of D. Edward Kontz, Jr. Architect in May of 1977. In August 1978 their son Matthew was born. Then in 1980 Vernita and Ed built a home on a 10-acre parcel in the Drift Creek Valley just south of Lincoln City, OR where they lived until 2000, when they moved for the last time to College Place, WA. In 2018, Ed married Lavaun Linde of Deer Park, WA after the death of his wife, Vernita.

Ed was preceded in death by both parents and his first wife Vernita Clarambeau Kontz. He is survived by his wife Lavaun Linde Kontz; daughter, Marlo Logan; son, Matthew Kontz, daughter-in-law, Maria Cristina Herrera de Kontz; and grandchildren, Isabella and Alejandro Kontz of Peoria, IL; his sister-in-law, Verlynn Clarambeau of College Place and his sister Martha Kontz Dibblee of Portland, OR.