Edward A. Rice Jr., of Charleston, SC, died on June 28, 2017, at MUSC, following a tragic car accident.
He was born on February 24, 1947 in New York, New York, the son of the late Margaret Koontz Rice and Edward Ambler Rice. Ed was raised in Clemson, SC and graduated from Davidson College and MUSC.
He was married to Elizabeth Fleischman Rice (Bob) for 25 years. They had two daughters, Margaret Killian Rice of Charleston, SC and Corday Elizabeth Rice (Tommy) of Arlington, WA.
Ed is survived by his ex-wife, Beth; daughters; son-in-law, Tommy Grammer; sister, Margaret “Peggy” Rice Gerling (Michael) of Biburg, Germany; nephews, Peter Gerling of Mt. Pleasant, SC, Ed Heyward (Hattie) of Huntington Beach, CA, Keith Heyward (Julia) of Providence, RI, and Alexander Nisbet (Kina) of Seattle, WA; nieces, Diana Gerling Oehmen(Markus) of Munich, Germany, Bet Heyward of San Francisco, CA and Caroline Nisbet of Chapel Hill, NC; cousins George M. Hearn, Jr. (Kaye) of Conway, SC, Peter Lee Hearn (Julie) of Conway, SC, John Judson Hearn (Jane) of Columbia, SC, and Andrew Wrenn Hearn (Christine) of Alpharetta, GA and their children.
He was predeceased by his aunt, Martha Sink Hearn, uncle, Bob Rice, and brother-in-law, Mark Fleischman. Ed lived in Charleston since 1971 and was a devout member of AA since 1994. He loved the outdoors, bird watching, visiting his daughters, and once-a-week dinner and cards with Beth and her husband (his dear friend) Bob Seigler.
Most of all, he loved spending time with his three unruly dogs, Colby, Cooper, and Cotton. He also loved his grand dogs very much, and his special furry friend Brady who he took on weekly outings while his moms, Cameron and Beth, were at work. He wake boarded until turning 70 in February and had definite plans to go a couple of more times this summer.
He visited his loving friends John and Donna Welborne, of Morganton, NC often and was especially fond of their children, Dalton and Shelby.
He kept in touch with old and new friends via phone and email, and if your were lucky, you’d get one of his letters he typed on his typewriter and sent by regular mail. He will be dearly missed by all.
Ed worked as an emergency physician for many years at Trident Regional Hospital in North Charleston, SC. He also worked in Palm Coast, FL and Valdese Hospital near Morgantown, NC.
J Hebry Stuhr, INC., Downtown Chapel, is in charge of arrangements.
His family will follow his wishes and celebrate his life by not having a memorial service.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorials be made to The Charleston Animal Society, “Through torrents of tears we tried to console one another but failed. How many times had we prepared ourselves for this destined event? I felt as though I saw his soul in the form of a majestic raptor soaring over the river where we swam. In the afternoon sun, ever ascending circles into sky, azure blue.” (Excerpt from Ed’s notes, kitchen table, June 2017, regarding passing of one of his beloved grand dogs.)
A memorial message may be sent to the family by visiting our website at www.jhenrystuhr.com. Visit our guestbook at www.legacy.com/obituaries/ charleston
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