Edward Francis Wilson III

1934 - 2018

Edward Francis Wilson III passed away on August 28, 2018.

Ed is survived by his wife Marion (nee Park), his brother Terrence (Daphne Raitt), his three daughters, Catharine (David Patton), Christine (Brett Rubin), and Casey (Jody Bramel), and three grandchildren, Veronica Crow, Saul Bramel, and Ellen Bramel.

Ed was born in 1934 in Springfield, Ohio to Helen (Malone), an educator, and Edward F. Wilson II, a professional baseball player and educator. He spent his childhood in Tarrytown, New York, where he graduated from Hackley School. Ed began his undergraduate studies as a two-sport scholarship athlete at Cornell University before serving two year in the Army during the Korean War. After the war, Ed returned to college at the University of Pennsylvania, before completing his M.D. at The Yale University School of Medicine. He completed an internship and residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, MD and spent a fellowship year at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, NY. During his medical career, Ed worked as a forensic pathologist in the Medical Examiner's office for the city of Baltimore, the state of Utah, Lane County (Oregon), the state of Oregon, and Delaware County (Pennsylvania). He also served as a clinical pathologist and partner with Pathology Consultants in Eugene, Oregon for many years.

Ed had a great love of international travel and culture, as well as a passion for outdoor adventure. In the early 80s, he spent six months in Peshawar, Pakistan with the International Medical Corp, then in the late 80s he spent a year in Abha, Saudi Arabia as faculty at the King Saud University College of Medicine. Ed's outdoor travels, often undertaken with Marion, as well as his children and friends, included canoeing, river rafting, and backpacking. Among his numerous trips, he canoed and camped with his family on the Okefenokee Swamp, rafted on many rivers in the Northwest, trekked in the Himalayas with the assistance of a Sherpa guide, and backpacked in Alaska, Canada, the Alps, Patagonia, and the Dolomites.

Most of all, Ed loved his family. He and Marion were married for 56 years. They never tired of spending time together traveling, in the outdoors, attending the symphony, theater, and opera, and being with their children and grandchildren. Ed was a family man and a person who enjoyed meeting and learning from people in all walks of life and of all backgrounds. He was a good listener, and shared a mutual respect for those who worked with him and for him. His family will remember him as a good husband, loving father and grandfather, and as a person who continued to question, and grow, and learn throughout his whole life.

Special thanks to the Visiting Angels caregivers and to Peace Health Hospice of Scared Heart.

Join Ed's family to celebrate his life on September 29, 2018 at 2:00 at Venue 252 (252 Lawrence St, Eugene, OR). In lieu of flowers, a donation may be made in Ed's name to Willamette Riverkeeper (willamette-riverkeeper.org).