Edwin Damon Wallace

Edwin Damon Wallace was born in January 1949, the second child of Dorothy and Edwin Wallace. He grew up in Queens Village, New York with his older brother Richard, and his younger siblings, Joan and Walter.

Ed's lifelong passions-books, classical music, nature, and trains-were apparent from an early age. As a child, Ed learned to play piano, listened to classical music, and read voraciously. He thrilled in riding the subway and several times tried to complete the entire NYC Subway System within 24 hours in the 1960s. He and Rich would have mom bring food to different stops, but alas, the record eluded them.

In young adulthood, Ed learned to play the organ and violin. He leaned into these interests by joining a volunteer orchestra and ultimately attained a Master of Arts in Music. He held subscriptions to many seasons of orchestral concerts in New York City. He served as organist and choir director at many churches, most recently serving at Ardsley United Methodist Church until his retirement in 2024.

Books were so important to Ed that he shaped a career around them. After attaining his Master of Library Science, he worked first at St. John's University in Queens, before taking a reference librarian position at Lehman College in the Bronx where he served several decades until retiring. His interest did not limit itself to his work at the college libraries. His personal book collection is legendary among his loved ones, and he could always be relied upon for a great reading recommendation, whether fiction or nonfiction, classic or contemporary.

Ed found solace in nature and was an intrepid hiker. He often noted that his middle name, Damon, spelled backward was nomad. As early as high school, Ed had already begun to make progress toward his goal of hiking the Appalachian Trail in its entirety, piece by piece. In his lifetime, he achieved the full trail-over 2,100 miles of trail through 14 states-using his vacation time for multi-week solo hikes. This was deeply fulfilling to him but was not without adventure! Picking him up bloodied from a black fly disaster in Maine, or limping from the Pennsylvania rocks of the AT was a normal in the family's summers, but he kept at it. He didn't stop with the AT, completing many other trails and hikes throughout the United States in his lifetime. He kept annotated trail guides of many of these trips-notably of the month he spent hiking backwoods in Yellowstone National Park as a young man.

Ed is survived by his wife, Nancy, who he met at a church in Queens where he played the organ for many years. He knew immediately that she was the woman for him-proposing less than a year after they met. They married in 1985 and were blessed with three children, Heather, Benjamin, and Holly. The family relocated to Peekskill in 1997, where Ed was thrilled to have the space to construct an extensive model train network in the basement.

Ed passed away on February 1st, 2026 at the age of 77. He is survived by his wife, Nancy; children, Heather, Benjamin, and Holly; son-in-law Steven; and sister, Joan; along with beloved in-laws, nieces and nephews.