Hello and thank you for landing on this most unexpected and tragic, yet still beautiful and heartfelt memorial fundraising page. We appreciate you more than you know.

We are Big Ed’s children; his only beloved son Eddie, and Eddie’s childhood friend David who adored Ed as a father and whom Ed loved and nurtured as one of his own. We are joined by David’s wife, Amanie, and a cast of nieces, nephews, and children of friends who considered Ed to be a beacon of love and support in their lives. We have, all of us, come here united to raise funds in support of Ed’s family, and to help them offset some of the unexpected medical expenses, funeral, and memorial costs that were so suddenly placed at their feet. We really hope you can help us out with that.

For those of you lucky enough to have known Ed, I’m sure there’s not one of you who doesn’t have a funny or touching or heartening story to tell about him. For those of you who may not have known him so well, you should know that Ed was a light, a contagious energy, and a joy of a human who bathed in laughter and reveled in service, and whose humor and acceptance was like a warm blanket when we needed it most.

Ed was kind. And not just patient and polite and thoughtful, but the kind of kind that made you think about how you treat other people and wonder if you were doing it right. Always helpful, always listening, always ready to do what he could to make your life easier. Ed was the kind of person that if he could take the burden off of you and place it upon himself, he would; such was the depth of his empathy, his love.

Ed was a character. He was funny- my God- did he know how to make us laugh! His sense of humor was across the board and there wasn’t much he couldn’t laugh at or make you laugh about! But he was more than just a jokester, Ed was wise, because he knew that laughter is healing, and no matter the issue, Ed had a hot take or a quip to meet it, to make us laugh and help us feel better. And when we think of him, we think of his laugh, and of that twinkle in his eye (if you knew him, you know that twinkle) that even now it brings us a modicum of peace in this very strange and very difficult time.

Ed was many things; a devoted husband, a fierce friend, a loyal uncle, a loving son and more- but his greatest joy- without a doubt- was being a Dad. He was an amazing father to Eddie, and a beloved fatherly figure to the rest of us, and that is what we now undoubtedly miss him for the most. Ed was the best of us! He was just the best! Children and dogs flocked to him- and I don’t know if there is a better testament to a persons quality than that.

If you didn’t know Ed, we hope you now know a little more now about the man we loved so much, and who loved us so well. And if you were as lucky as we are to have known him and to have loved and been loved by him, then we commiserate with you. Our loss is your loss. We feel for you and we offer you our love and support in place of his, because that’s what he would want for all of us, and we honor his memory by paying forward his love.

We miss our Ed. We miss our Dad. We miss our Uncle. We miss our Friend. We miss him for his guidance, his support, his acceptance, but most of all we miss him for the way he made us feel about ourselves. Please join us in helping his family recover, financially, from their most sudden and most tragic loss. Please help us pay his love forward by donating to his final farewell. They deserve the ability and the opportunity to place him to rest peacefully. Please help us help them. It would mean the world to us. And, more importantly, it would mean the world to Ed.

On behalf of the Gonzalez family, please remember to hug your loved ones. Thank you and God Bless,

Gratefully and Sincerely,

The Gonzalez Children, Family, and Friends

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