Edwin McKay Deshazo

Edwin McKay DeShazo passed away on March 2, 2026 in East Greenwich, Rhode Island.

He was born in Madison, Wisconsin, but within a few years the family moved to Santa Monica, California. Edwin enjoyed an active childhood engaging in multiple sports, such as Little League baseball, and began a life-long love of music.

Edwin graduated from The Webb School in Claremont, California, in 1980, where he was a DJ for the school radio station, varsity team football and baseball player and wrestler, and a proud member of the Honor Committee his senior year. He subsequently completed a bachelor's degree in Radio and Television Broadcasting at San Francisco State University, again working for several years as DJ "Edwin Blur" at the university station, KSFS.

After graduation, Edwin worked as a studio sound engineer in Los Angeles and San Francisco before joining Merl Saunders and the Rainforest Band in 1992 as their Front of House Mixer and roadcrew member. Six years with Merl took Edwin from coast to coast, mixing sound for more than 800 shows. One highlight of those years was a trip to the Deadheads Festival in Japan, where he got to hang out and eat sushi with members of The Grateful Dead, The Band, and New Riders of the Purple Sage. Edwin left the hectic world of life on the road in 1998 shortly after meeting his future wife, Lisa Palter. He then worked with the David Nelson Band and several Bay Area sound companies, eventually landing a dream job in 2004 as sound engineer and archivist for the 142 Throckmorton Theatre in Mill Valley. CA. "The Throck," a 300-seat converted vaudeville theater, featured many top names in music and comedy, including The English Beat, The B-52's, George Winston, Mort Sahl, Dick Gregory, Dana Carvey, and Robin Williams - a local who would pass Edwin on the street and say "hey, boss!" During those 16 years in the Bay Area, Edwin was also a committee member of the prestigious Mill Valley Fall Arts Festival, with responsibility for booking and running main stage entertainment acts. After moving to Rhode Island, Edwin worked as an independent contractor sound engineer for the Rhode Island Folk Festival, the Rhythm and Roots Festival, RI Youth Theatre, and various small venues.

Lisa, a New England native, and Edwin married in 2005 at the First Unitarian Church in Providence. Daughter Olivia Louise DeShazo was born in San Francisco in 2007 and son Zachary Weiser DeShazo was born in 2010 in Marin County. The family enjoyed living in Northern California but saw an opportunity to relocate to Rhode Island in 2021 in order to be closer to East Coast family and provide the kids with a bigger house, new opportunities, and a dog! Their cross country drive in a minivan with spare tire strapped to the roof filled them with many stories and great memories.

Edwin very much enjoyed traveling with his family. Over the years, they had the good fortune to vacation together all over California, the Pacific Northwest, Maui, France, Holland, Costa Rica, Montreal, and more, always looking for adventure and fun. Edwin was an avid skier and golfer - activities his family enjoyed with him.

Edwin was passionate about music and had an encyclopedic memory for band member names and songs. He loved old bluegrass, punk, garage rock, gypsy jazz - really all genres, so long as the effort was authentic and high quality. He grew up playing numerous instruments, starting with trombone, and had a real knack for picking up almost any instrument and being able to play it, e.g. guitar, banjo, ukulele, mandolin, bass, piano, and drums. Edwin also wrote and played his own songs on guitar.

In addition to Lisa and the children, Edwin is survived by siblings Jean Louise DeShazo Jumet, William Wood DeShazo, John Daniel DeShazo, and Thomas Andrew DeShazo, six nieces and nephews, seven grand nieces and nephews, and hundreds of friends.

He is preceded in death by his parents, Dr. B. W. DeShazo and Charlotte Jean McKay DeShazo.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you take time to reach out to someone in need, offer a listening ear, or support a cause close to your heart in Edwin's memory.

The family will be hosting a celebration of life on April 3, 2026 at 2:00 p.m. at the First Unitarian Church in Providence. For more information, please contact Lisa or the church.