Edward Ezekiel Etheredge

 

Died May 22, 1939 – October 8, 2019,Bartow, Florida

College: Saybrook
Major: Division III Honors
Graduate School: University of Minnesota, Ph.D., Surgery, 1974

Widow: Mrs. Beverly H. Etheredge
1850 Mariposa Avenue
Bartow, FL 33830
863-534-1836
863-534-3063 (Fax)
eeebartow55@aol.com

Children: Edward E. Jr., 1964; William Glenn, 1966
Grandchildren: Claire Marissa E., 2000; Jake Edward E., 2002

EDWARD EZEKIEL ETHEREDGE, M.D.

BARTOW – Edward Ezekiel Etheredge, M.D., Ph D. Professor of Surgery Emeritus at Tulane University, age 80, passed away on Tuesday, October 8, 2019 in Bartow.

Born May 22, 1939 in Jacksonville, FL., he was the son of the late Ezekiel Y. and Raymer Gohnson) Etheredge. Ed was a longtime member of the First United Methodist Church of Bartow. He moved to Bartow at the age of two. He graduated from Summerlin Institute, Yale University, and Yale University College of Medicine and the University of Minnesota, earning his PhD. and did his surgical training in renal transplants, vascular and general surgery. Dr. Etheredge served as a Lt. Colonel in the U.S. Army and earned an Army Commendation Medal for Meritorious Service while practicing at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Ed was an accomplished artist and a world class fisherman. He devoted his service to the United Methodist Church in New Haven, CT, Minneapolis, MN, Chevy Chase, MD, St. Louis, MO, New Orleans, LA and Bartow, FL. Dr. Etheredge was also an environ­ mentalist, historian, collector and author of numerous publications and surgical books. He was a member of the Bartow Kiwanis Club and President Emeritus of the Polk County Historical Association. Dr. Etheredge served on the Board of Directors for the Peace River Center, Bartow Community Healthcare Foundation and Luster All Training Center of Hope.

Along with his parents, his is preceded in death by his brother Lee “Buzz” Etheredge. He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Beverly H. Etheredge of Bartow, his two sons: Edward Etheredge, Jr., William G. Etheredge (Cynthia), all of Lakeland and his sister-in-law Peggy Etheredge of Fort Myers. He also leaves behind his grandchildren: Claire and Jake Etheredge, along with his nephews: Wade Etheredge (Lori) and Will Etheredge (Erin).

Funeral services will be held on Saturday, October 12, 2019 at 1:00 pm at the First United Methodist Church in Bartow. The family is so grateful for our special team of Home Instead Caregivers. In lieu of flowers, those wishing to make memorial contributions, please consider the First United Methodist Church, 455 S. Broad­ way Ave., Bartow, FL 33830 or Polk County Historical Association, P.O. Box 2749, Bartow, FL.

Greetings!l Writing about the last 50 years in 500 words is truly daunting and even intimidating. My hubris far surpasses my modesty, so I shall open by bragging that it is I, survivor of a couple of bouts with the Grim Reaper, who writes this missive; and, it is I who has been married to my beloved Beverly for 49 years and two months!!

My diploma bears the words, “…magna cum laude”, so there, all you Yankee naysayers! Our two-day honeymoon was followed by a drive back to New Haven for medical school. I was elected to AOA and received my M.D. in ’65. Our first son, Ed, Jr., was born just before my senior year and rode with us to Minneapolis where I was to begin a coveted surgical internship (a.k.a. indebted servitude). Our second son, William, was born at the end of that trying year. Eight years later, plus one, I received my Ph.D. and was certified by the Am. Board of Surgery.

The Berry plan got me ,and I suffered for two years (’73-’75) as Staff Surgeon, Transplantation Service, Walter Reed Army Medical Center. I served proudly ,and I treasure my memories, especially “makin’ silver”—lieutenant colonel. I got my first “real job,” as Mama called it, at Washington University, St. Louis, and began my career in academic surgery: clinical practice, teaching, research, and regional and national transplantation politics. I am proud that my research lab received six years of funding from the National Institutes of Health.

We were leaders in our church, and I was president of our opera guild and member of the BOD, Opera Theatre of St. Louis. After a happy time in St. Louis, I was appointed Professor and Head of the Transplantation Section at Tulane University in 1984. My career flourished, and I enjoyed the demands of a growing clinical program, as well as the challenges of developing with my colleagues the national algorithm for organ sharing. Both of our boys graduated with B.A.s from Tulane.

Sadly, progressive diabetic neuropathy and cervical spinal cord disease forced my retirement in 1997. We moved back to my hometown of Bartow, Florida. Our involvement with my childhood church intensified, with Beverly’s piano skills and my dedication to historic restoration. I had an above-knee amputation and that, with partial paralysis of the remaining leg and partial paralysis of both hands, put me into the Ferrari of all wheelchairs. We go to church, our box at the Sarasota Opera and various boards, committees—and chase our two grandchildren. We begin each day with thanks for each other and and for all our many blessings. I can no longer fish, cook, paint, my avocational loves, but I can still collect, a genetic disorder, and that engenders compelling scholarship, now Florida arrowheads! My greatest blessing and joy in my life is my wife Beverly, my constant companion and partner. We will not be able to attend the reunion, but we send a rousing Boola Boola and a prayer that God will continue to bless us!