Edward E. Lane

LANE, Edward E., Eagle Scout, bomber pilot, attorney and legislator, died peacefully at age 85 on Wednesday, August 19, 2009. Although born to out-of-state parents, Keren Vick Lane (N.C.) and Edward Thorp Lane (Ohio), he was a true Virginian. A quintessential American childhood, he acquired Eagle Scout and beyond, lifeguarding in the summer, and fleetingly imagined himself growing up to be a forest ranger. In 1942 he enlisted in the Army Air Corps, leaving Virginia Tech to be trained as a bomber pilot. After WWII, he returned to Richmond, and setting his sights on becoming an attorney, he entered law school. At a young age, he became very active in civic affairs and his church, serving as a Sunday School teacher, Scoutmaster and vestryman at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church. In 1952 he was named the Jaycees "outstanding young man of the year" for Richmond and the state of Virginia. Approached at age 29 to run for the Legislature, he was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates. He was re-elected for 24 years, losing in the November 1977 election in a run for the office of Attorney General after winning the primary. Through his years of service, he was chairman of many committees such as Insurance and Banking and the important Appropriations Committee. Befitting his prudent and resolute personality, he was also the first chairman of J.L.A.R.C., "the financial watchdog" committee for the Virginia Legislature. He was especially interested in the founding of public television, serving as co-chairman of the Education Television Commission. A handsome, dignified, serious and quiet person (except when unduly provoked), he was an improbable politician, just not a "people person." But he was a diligent and conscientious worker who was dedicated to serving the people of Virginia. Over the years, he received many honors, including a certificate of recognition from the governor for exceptional contributions to the citizens of Virginia. Other boards included Trustee of the Virginia Museum (10 years), Massey Cancer Center (sponsored the bill creating it), and in later years volunteered at the Virginia Aviation Museum and John Marshall House. Always athletic and adventuresome, he enjoyed tennis, whitewater canoeing, biking, surfing, scuba diving and riding with the Deep Run Hunt Club. With a lifelong zeal for flying machines, he once piloted a single-engine plane through a thunderstorm, swooping close to power lines to land in a postage stamp-size bucolic field in Pennsylvania. His passion for reading history, science and biographies, especially the founding fathers of our nation, was voracious. A graceful dancer, he took pleasure in and served as president of the Soixante Plus dance group. Unusually healthy all his life, it was with disbelief that he was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease. After finally accepting it, he was ultimately "blessed" with dementia, erasing all anxieties, and able to respond to the devotion of his special caregivers, Renee, Stephanie and Loretha. To these "angels," along with the many C.N.A.s and staff members at Westminster Canterbury, we say thank you!! The man fondly known to his family as "Big" leaves behind the love of his life, Jean Wiltshire Lane, his wife of over 60 years; his two sons, Ed Jr. (wife Mary) and Greg (wife Kristi); as well as five grandchildren, a step-grandson; his brother, Richard E. Lane; and seven great-grandchildren. A memorial service will be held at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church on Monday, August 24, at 11:30 a.m. Burial will be private. Memorial contributions may be made to the Westminster Canterbury Foundation, 1600 Westbrook Ave., Richmond, Va. 23227, or the MCV Foundation, Parkinson's Disease Fund, attention Shawn Davis, P.O. Box 980234, Richmond, Va. 23298.

This obituary was originally published in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.