Click to view attachmentDear 914World Friends,
Yesterday, my dad passed peacefully surrounded by his
two loving daughters and two oldest granddaughters and
wife. He was a young 69! He had a wonderful life and
a lot to celebrate. I was blessed to have such an
incredible father and a great relationship with him.
Although I will deeply miss him, I know he is in a
better place.
On the evening of his passing, just like my dad would
want me to, I took a beautiful moonlit drive with my
daughter in his prized convertible corvette with the
top down and we shared great memories of him. It was
the way he would want it...Godspeed Dad!
Thank you all for your incredible support!
Jennifer
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LOVING TRIBUTE TO EDWARD M. DUCEY JR., 1939-2008
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Edward Martin Ducey Jr, was a loving father and
husband and happy grandfather. He was a Porsche
enthusiast, a passionate hobbyist for many things and
an accomplished author. On April 12, 2008 in Santa
Clara, California, he passed peacefully with his
loving family by his side due to surgery and recovery
complications from Esophageal Cancer.
Ed or Eddie, as he was lovingly referred to by his
many friends, had a smile and laughter that lit up a
room. He was wonderfully contagious with his witty
personality and funny jokes. He was a brilliant soul
with a brilliant mind and someone who left a lasting
memory with each of us as we learned something new
from him everyday.
He was a man with strong values and a huge and very
generous heart. He was instilled with traditional,
honest to goodness beliefs and was never one to turn
his back on you. He was true to his word and very
passionate about keeping it that way.
Ed was also a true car enthusiast who had enjoyed a
broad spectrum of things related to automobiles. He
was a champion race team owner who successfully led
the operations of several race projects, most recently
the completion of a one-of-a-kind exotic sports
car/race car that took 4-years to build with his two
best friends Lawrence and John. Ed was also a
passionate teacher and coach who taught his son and
daughter how to excel in high speed performance
driving. During his retirement, he enjoyed buying and
selling Porsche car parts online as a hobby and built
many new online friendships due to his honest
dealings. Never one to sit still even in his
retirement, he passionately wrote a "how to" book on
building a Porsche V8 and became an accomplished
author. His most recent enjoyment was being a doting,
happy grandfather to his newest car enthusiast and
family member, his youngest grandson, Carlo, who
shared a love for his Grampa's prized minature car
collection just as he did.
Ed had many roles, but his most enjoyable was being a
grandfather to his 9 grandchildren. He was lovingly
referred to by his younger grandchildren as "White
Papa" and deeply adored by all his grandkids due to
his playful, loving and very caring soul.
He was an ever so proud father to his two daughters
and adopted son. His oldest daughter Jennifer and son
Rich, shared a deep bond over cars with their dad as
they both are accomplished former professional race
car drivers and his youngest daughter, Cristin, is a
fulfilled mother of 3, with a black belt in Karate and
notarized endurance cyclist.
Always wanting to be a simplistic man, Ed somehow
lived a busy, yet fulfilling life and was someone who
remained steadfast in control. Born on February 27,
1939 in Dorchester, Massachusetts to parents, Edward
M. Ducey Sr. a Postman and his mother, Mable Follis
Ducey, a Homemaker/Seamstress, Ed's family later
adopted his beloved sister, Jackie. He graduated from
Arch Bishop Williams and Northeastern University in
Electrical Engineering. He married Betsy Poole of
Whitman, Massachusetts in 1964, had two daughters,
Jennifer and Cristin and moved to Liverpool, New York
where he earned his pilots license and began flying
his sailplane nicknamed "GreyTop" in Cooperstown, New
York. The family later relocated to Los Gatos,
California in 1975 where he worked for National
Semiconductor in Price Management. Ed and Betsy were
married for 18 years and later divorced 1982. Ed went
on to serve 29 years at National Semiconductor in
Santa Clara where he later met and married his true
love, Charlene in 1999 and they moved to there dream
home in Morgan Hill. Ed recently came out of
retirement in 2007 at age 68 to pursue an exciting job
he was offered in Price Management at Perkin Elmer
just a few weeks shy before being diagnosed with
advanced Esophageal Cancer due to Acid Reflux. He
successfully and courageously completed his 4 months
of chemo and radiation treatment and elected to have
Thoracic surgery on March 6, 2008 to extend his cancer
survivorship. Unfortunately his surgery and recovery
were plagued with multiple complications and on April
12,2008 he passed in peace surrounded by his loving
family with dignity and grace.
Ed Ducey is survived by his wife, Charlene, his
children, Jennifer Tumminelli, Cristin Sohm, adopted
son, Rich Stephens and step sons Nico and Guido and
his beloved grandchildren Mellissa, Nicole, Sarah,
Nicholas, Samantha, Sydney, Twins Luca and Mara and
youngest grandson Carlo.
Funeral services will be held at the Chapel of the
Hills Funeral Home at 615 North Santa Cruz Avenue in
Los Gatos on Wednesday, April 16, 2008 at 2:00 pm
proceeded by a serene burial at the Los Gatos Memorial
Park at 2255 Los Gatos Almaden Road in San Jose with
an afternoon celebration of his life at his son's
house in Los Gatos immediately following. In lieu of
flowers, his family is kindly requesting a donation be
made in his honor under the bike team banner "Eddie's
Angels" for an upcoming 100-mile cancer charity bike
ride on July 13th in San Jose. The bike team is
comprised of his family members. All donations will
go the Lance Armstrong Foundation for Cancer patients
and survivors.
http://www.sanjose08.org/livestrong/*/eddiesangels-----------------------------------------------------------
EDDUCEY.LEGACY.COM
(a guestbook in his honor to be published shortly!)
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