EDWARD A. NEWCOMB ’42

Ed Newcomb died on Dec. 6, 2008, in Bellevue, Wash. He was born in Cortland, N.Y., but moved with his parents early on to Cynwyd, Pa., a suburb of Philadelphia. His parents were good friends of my parents, so I knew Ed, who attended Lower Merion High, for years before we decided to room together at Amherst.

The Newcombs and the Heislers attended the Amherst-Williams football game together in ’36 and had the pleasure of seeing Ed’s older brother, Bob ’37, playing tackle, block a kick which led to Amherst’s winning touchdown in a 14-13 victory.

I enjoyed rooming with Ed for two years before he transferred to the Wharton School, Univ. of Pennsylvania. He was an excellent musician (French horn) and sang in the glee club. A Psi U, he also participated in freshman wrestling and track and field.

Ed distinguished himself in World War II, serving as a captain in General Patton’s Third Army in Europe. After he received his B.S. degree from Wharton in 1947, he worked in the Philadelphia area for several years, a time during which I was an usher at his wedding to his wife, Alice, and he was an usher at my wedding.

Ed then began a long and successful career working for the Weyerhaeuser Lumber Company in the Tacoma-Seattle area of Washington. Sadly, he lost his wife in 1992. He retired from Weyerhaeuser in 1993 as manager of the paper division.

Since then, Ed lived in Bellevue, enjoying the company of his daughter Nancy, son William and five grandchildren, who all lived in the area. Two years ago, I had the pleasure of visiting Ed at his home on a canal filled with beautiful yachts. After knowing Ed as a close friend for 75 years, I’ll really miss him.

—Ted Heisler ’42