Edward Joseph Chesney Jr.

My beloved life partner and husband, Edward Joseph Chesney Jr., passed away on August 9, 2021. After receiving an ALS diagnosis last year he did not want that illness to define the story of his life, instead wanting to focus on the entirety of his 70 years. As he put it: “By any standards I had a great life. I’ve enjoyed lots of fantastic experiences, world travel, a profession that gave me the freedom to be creative and a productive citizen of a great country and the world.” He kept much of his final months of decline to himself because he did not want to cause his friends and family the pain of seeing what ALS was doing to him. In those months he and I packed in as much living as we could and although they are bittersweet for me, those memories will be with me forever (laughing, crying, our day dates of Price is Right, Let’s Make a Deal, and Wheel of Fortune). Ed was born in Wyandotte, Michigan to Pauline and Ed Chesney. He liked to tell the story that he didn’t speak at all until he was two and a half years old and his grandmother insisted to his mother that something was wrong with him. I believe a doctor told his mother that “he’ll talk when he is ready”. That was my honey. He was the fourth child in a family of six. He had lots of relatives (grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins) that lived close by and they spent a lot of time together during his childhood. As Ed said “My immediate family did not have much, we lived in a house with a single bathroom and shared bedrooms but we did have each other and it takes time to realize how lucky we were to have that.” After high school Ed attended college, two years at Marietta College in Ohio (Biology), then transferring to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan for his junior and senior year (School of Natural Resources). A weekend student job kept him from attending any Michigan Wolverine football games as a student, but we were able to scratch that item off of his bucket list several years ago. He looked back fondly on his college days and was the first in his family to receive a college degree. He took a research assistant position at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI) in 1973 which set him on the path toward oceanography, fisheries and aquaculture. Part of his responsibilities was to participate in a research project in Spain, which exposed him as a young man to great adventures, exotic meals and traveling, not just to Spain but to other countries like Paris, Belgium, the Netherlands and London. As he put it, “eye opening for a Midwestern boy”. He had been at WHOI two years when his supervisor and mentor told him that if he wanted to stay in research as a career he should consider getting his PhD. An opportunity led to the University of Rhode Island, School of Oceanography in 1975. Two years of classes on that campus was followed by a move to Savannah, Georgia to complete the research part of his degree at Skidaway Institute of Oceanography. When he was close to finishing he began looking for a postdoc position and life took him to Chesapeake Biological Lab in Maryland in 1984. In 1987 he was offered an assistant professorship at Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium (LUMCON) in Cocodrie, Louisiana where he worked until his retirement in 2018. Ed was proud of his professional accomplishments. He loved doing research but one of the more rewarding parts of his job was teaching; he had many students, research assistants and postdocs over the years, many of whom developed into close friends. Ed embraced the local culture and people in all of the places he lived. He was easy going and people took to him right away. His many interests throughout his life (rowing crew, playing trumpet in junior high school band, volleyball, singing, fishing and hunting) opened the door to many lifelong friends and colleagues who meant so much to him. He said “What we really should focus on is how we lived and celebrate the multitude of moments and friendships that made it all worth living…As I said I had a good life by any measure and family and friendships were the foundation of much of my joy in life.” Ed is survived by sisters Connie and Mary, brother Rob, his uncle Ralph and many cousins, nieces, and nephews, all of whom he loved very much. His brother Howard and sister Ellen preceded him, as did his mother and father. As for me…I will try my best to go on without my sweetie. It will not be easy but it was what he wanted and I would not want to disappoint him. A celebration of Ed’s life will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers or gifts, please make a donation to Team Gleason Foundation (https://teamgleason.org/) or The ALS Foundation (https://donate.als.org/give/314333/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMItuOntN-_8gIVR0KGCh3_-wiMEAAYASAAEgJIpvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds#!/donation/checkout?utm_source=advertising&utm_medium=paidsearch&utm_content=primaryform&utm_campaign=google ) in Ed’s memory.