Memories from Kurt

Dear Eddy,

I can’t believe you are gone. I can’t believe you are gone! All this time while you were battling, I stayed in touch, but it was like I was just waiting for you to get better. Even though I knew the odds were against you…... Well, truth is, you did get better. Your spirit is free. Now we all reflect on how you touched us. I think of the movie, It’s a Wonderful Life and I cannot help but wonder what will be different from your absence. But the difference between the movie and you is that George Bailey was never born and his spark was not ignited. Although you left us early, your spark ignited long ago and your influence has spread to us in many ways. The world is a better place for that. Thank you.

I knew you since UNLV graduate school. I did not know you that well at the time, but always liked you. I remember some of the tough times you had with your thesis and working with Gene. I remember when you talked about meeting Wendy and I was so happy for you. She was and is so wonderful. Look what you guys did! You made your girls to brighten our world.

We started doing continuing education trips together and that is when we got to know each other. More than anything, I remember the conversations we would have on those trips. After a long day carting all the students across 4WD or dirt roads and teaching them about our wonderful planet, I always looked forward to having dinner and breakfast with you and sharing philosophy, our adventures of the day, or our lives back home. Remember the Jack Dempsey Room at the old Mizpah Hotel? I don’t think the Mizpah ever reopened. Do you remember the little tiny rooms in the Overland Hotel in Pioche, or the recon trip with our families and Cinco DeMayo? I recall us being at the Mizpah having an after-dinner beer with Tanya and deciding we all wanted to go out in the dark to find a hot spring you discovered in your newly purchased book about hot springs in Nevada. So off we went, and sure enough, we found the hot spring, shed our clothes and soaked up the moonlight.

Remember one of the Great Basin trips to Ely, standing out in the field looking at the stars and watching the Perseid meteor showers? Remember the one that lit up the sky? I remember the time we went hiking to Wheeler glacier with Kent. It was my first time and when we got back down to Stella Lake, you guys promptly announced to the group to either get rid of their fear of naked bodies or to start on down the trail. I think all of them except Tanya and Chris (our favorite groupies), took off down the trail. Tanya and Chris turned around, you and Kent were already naked and half way in so I figured I better join you. That was the coldest literally breath-taking water I ever immersed my entire body into. We obviously did not stay in very long, but what a wonderfully invigorating feeling. I loved it. Thank you for that experience. As I recall Chris and Tanya were caught with a camera when we emerged, so we worked on them to try the experience. Chris promptly departed, but Tanya wanted to try. We turned around and allowed her the same courtesy, but I will never forget looking over at you standing next to me with that mischievous grin on your face and camera in your hand. You, like a good polite male, also returned the favor and held the camera up over your head without turning around and snapped a butt load (no pun intended) of pictures. Unfortunately, it was her camera, so we never did see the data (or at least that the story we agreed to).

I could go on, but those are a few of my highlights that will live forever. I know you’re out there and I know I can still talk to you, but I already miss your physical presence. The world was lucky to have you. Kick some butt in the spirit world.

Your friend forever,

Kurt Goebel

From Susan Kramer

I am so sorry, yes sorry to hear about Eddy's passing. Many years ago, in the mid 90's, I was living here in Vegas and read info on new classes being offered at the Community College. I decided to take a few, ended up taking the whole course! That is when I met Ed. He was my instructor in many of the classes.

I believe that our class might have been one of the first field trips - to Black Mountain. He truly knew how to help you connect the dots so to speak.

I wish I had the opportunity to know him (and his family) better. I do remember some things, however it has been a while, but what I remember most was his committment to the environment.

And I remember the sunglasses. He always had them on or near!

He was obviously loved by many and while he is no longer here physically, I have a feeling that the examples and way he lived his life will live on through all of those he touched.

Thank you Ed for the knowledge you shared and thank you Wendy and the rest of the family, for sharing his life.

Respectfully,

Susan Kramer
(A student)

Terri and RJ—Meeting Ed

Four-wheeling in the-middle-of-nowhere….so we thought….we come across this white truck with this guy camped; it’s Ed with his beloved Luv truck. We are out for a day exploring areas where we fully expect to see no one…but no, there’s Ed. Who the heck would be camped in this region? It’s in the-middle-of-nowhere! And why?

We stop and say hello and Ed does the same. What a friendly guy! As we talk we discover he is a geologist and we have common acquaintances. Ed’s a grad student mapping Arch Mountain, a region north of Hoover Dam; no small task. Ed has been camping and mapping for varied lengths of time, this time was for a week or two. That length of time doesn’t allow for cold beer, and Ed loves to have a beer! So of course we enjoy a few together. As we talk we feel that we have met such an incredible person….hey, we need to get to know this guy better…as we did, for many years.

Our conversation during that first meeting with Ed was one we will remember forever as we will, of course, never forget Ed. Our wonderful friend Ed.

We love you and miss you Ed.

Love Terri and R.J.

From Jerry Carter

No one who knew Ed can ever claim to be unaffected by the experience... I'll forever consider myself a better person for the memories I shared with him andI feel honored to call him my friend.

I first met Ed while we were both geology students at San Diego State in the early 80's. While we had a variety of classes together, my earliest recollection of him will surprise no one: In the first class meeting of a structural geology class, we were asked to introduce ourselves and to identify for everyone our hometowns; when Ed's turn came, his response: "My name is Ed, I'm from planet Earth".

By 1984, we'd both gotten our degrees and had each settled on UNLV for Graduate School and agreed to head out to Sin City as roommates. The next several years brought some of the best memories of my life, as we endured the cultural shock of learning to survive in Las Vegas, overcoming the challenges of grad school and figuring out what the hell to do with our lives. Through it all, Ed never lost his amazing sense of humor and his fascination for the natural world around him. He was always most energized sitting on a ridgetop admiring the scene before him, whether it was a picturesque valley, a soaring hawk, or a solitary wildflower. After a day of hiking, skiing, climbing, or geologizing... sitting around a campfire drinking beers, Ed would often peer off into the star-filled night and say "Carter, it can't get any better than this!" Of course, he hadn't yet met Wendy so naturally he'd later learn that it certainly could!

Eve and Lauralyn: you can rest assured that Ed's childhood animal adoption habits never changed... dogs, birds, lizards, insects,... it always felt like a zoo. He once decided that home-harvested honey would make great Christmas presents, so he set up beehives in our backyard. When the bee colony threatened to swarm into the house, Bill, Angie, and I were forced to barricade ourselves in our rooms while Ed calmly herded the colony back to the hive. Of course, in the end, Ed harvested several quarts of the most delicious honey imaginable,... then offered his bee removal services to unsuspecting neighbors who began to suddenly find bees colonizing in their yards!

Opening the freezer was always an adventure - white mice, raccoon tails, sidewinder rattles, all waiting for resumption of one project or another, or addition to one of his many collections. Ed's collections are legendary: rocks, fossils, plants, animals,... but most impressive is his endless collection of friends - it's difficult to imagine someone with a greater knack for making friends. I'll always be proud to be part of that collection.

Farewell my friend... see you on the other side.

Your fellow Agent of Erosion,

Jerry

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