Edgar Lee Exum, 77, died October 17, 2025 in the home nestled in a sylvan glen in the Oregon woods that he designed, supervised construction of and shared for 30 years with the love of his life, Claudette Aras. The son of Joe Lee Exum and Vesta Euzelia Exum, Edgar was raised in Greenville, North Carolina, where he attended Junius H. Rose High School and matriculated to Davidson in 1966. At Davidson, Edgar was attracted to and thrived in the energetic classrooms of Professors Charlie Lloyd and Karl Garrison. His sardonic wit, acerbic yet convivial nature and broad knowledge of a very wide variety of learning made him an extraordinary student and companion.
Edgar’s post- Davidson existence was atypical. Thanks to his ROTC commission, he did spend a mercifully brief time in the army. Lengthy military service would have served the best interests of neither Edgar nor the nation. Thereafter, he sojourned briefly as the director of advertising for the small hotel chain Guest Quarters before the numbing regularity of the corporate world caused him to flee.
He moved on to a series of jobs ranging from executive in an outward bound program to crewman on a sailing ship before moving to Ft. Lauderdale where he exchanged the high seas for kennel ownership.
Edgar met Claudette, 16 years his senior, in Fort Lauderdale in 1988 when they were both invited to the same Thanksgiving dinner. They immediately bonded and shortly thereafter resolved to move to a more accommodating environment, embarking upon a lengthy series of forays seeking that cherished spot on earth. In 1991 they settled in McKenzie Bridge, Oregon where Edgar methodically worked through the inventory of the Eugene Public Library, professing to have read one book per day.
Claudette was a very sweet, intelligent and warm lady, the product of many years spent in Europe. Edgar frequently observed that he was very lucky to have her. No one disagreed. Lamentably, just prior to Edgar’s death, Claudette suffered a stroke from which she died on November 24, 2025, just weeks before her 94th birthday.
Edgar leaves behind a large contingent of Sigma Chi brothers from the classes of 1967-72 who for many years have convened weekly for a call, monthly for a book discussion, seasonally to attend Davidson basketball and yearly to travel with their wives. We miss Edgar’s ability to knowledgeably discourse on virtually any topic, his bracing cynicism and his wicked and thoroughly original wit.
Written by classmate, Jim Long ’70