The Rev. Dr. Edward "Ed" Harold Barrett Riedesel

The Rev. Dr. Edward (Ed) Harold Barrett Riedesel passed away on Sunday, December 4, 2022 at Sunnyside Presbyterian Retirement Community in Harrisonburg, Virginia where he had been a resident for the past fourteen years.

Ed was born ninety-two years ago in Wendell, Idaho to Sadie and Harold Barrett, and -- following his father’s untimely death and Sadie’s re-marriage several years later -- he was adopted by the Rev. Norman Riedesel. Ed grew up in Idaho, Nevada, Nebraska, and Ohio, and he graduated from Kent State University in Ohio and then attended Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, becoming an ordained Presbyterian minister in 1955. During this time, he met the love of his life, Joanne Brownson, and she joined him in his ministry from Ohio to Pennsylvania to central Florida while raising four girls and one boy. They were married for sixty-two years until Joanne passed away in 2016.

As a clergyman, Ed was an especially compassionate and generous church leader. His longest ministry was at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Melbourne, Florida where he set aside his written sermon text and developed an inviting story-telling style. He always found ways to connect to and support people who were grieving, hurting or in-need, and he lived “pastoral care” every day of his life. Indeed, his empathetic character and gift of asking thoughtful questions and truly listening also served his patients well later in life when he also worked as a Hospice Chaplain.

Ed cared deeply about his family, and he and Joanne and their children spent many hours travelling to visit extended relatives across the USA – from California to Ohio, from North Carolina to Florida. He also was passionate about education, ensuring that all five of their children had a college education while also committing himself to pursue his doctorate in Ministry in his fifties ( at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary). And Ed Riedesel loved to travel. In the early years of marriage, Ed and Joanne’s trips involved loading a station wagon full of children and travelling hundreds of miles across the USA to visit family. Later in life, Ed enjoyed travelling to clergy-oriented development seminars and workshops in Europe, Britain, and across North America. He also led several small group trips to Israel and Jordan with a Holy Land theme. In 1979 both he and Joanne thoroughly enjoyed a special ministerial exchange with a clergy-family in Groomsport, N. Ireland. Ed also visited his father and mother in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico in support of his (retired) father’s ministry near Xocempich. And, as minister of Good Shepherd, Rev. Ed spearheaded a special, reciprocal relationship with the Korean Presbyterian community (associated with the Florida Institute of Technology). In appreciation for his good work, he and Joanne enjoyed an extensive personal tour of South Korea.

Following his retirement from the Church of the Good Shepherd (in Melbourne, Florida) Rev. Ed served as an Interim Pastor of Presbyterian churches in Sebastian and Palm Bay, Florida and he worked as a hospice chaplain. In 2008 he and Joanne moved into Sunnyside Retirement Community and joined Trinity Presbyterian Church (Harrisonburg, VA) where they enjoyed volunteering and connecting to their widely scattered family across the country.

Ed Riedesel’s five children loved him dearly: Linda Faye Owen (Staunton, VA); Brenda Kaye Graziano (Bluffton, SC); Sonda Maye Oppewal (Chapel Hill, NC); Mark Edward Barrett Riedesel (Melbourne, FL) and Marsha Ann Thornburgh (Wildwood, MO). They and their spouses (Roderic, Harold, Tom, Sally and Mike) along with eleven grandchildren (Bryn, Evan, Daniel, Matthew, Andrew, Robert, Anneke, Alyssa, Adam, Joe and Julie) and six great grandchildren (Isabella, Gabriella, Sophia, Olivia, Alexander, and Ella) will miss him greatly. Ed is survived by three sisters: Jean Jeffrey (Black Mtn, NC), Elizabeth Truax (Toronto, OH) and Charlotte McMurray (Charles City, VA).

A Celebration of Life service is being held at 2.00 p.m. on January 21, 2023 at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Harrisonburg, VA. In addition, next Spring, 2023 a memorial service will be held at the Presbyterian Church of the Good Shepherd in Melbourne, Florida.

Family and friends are invited to give a donation in Ed’s memory to either the Sunnyside Presbyterian Retirement Home Memorial Fund https://secure.acceptiva.com/?cst=0b88d8 ) or to any one of the Stewardship options available through Trinity Presbyterian Church https://secure.myvanco.com/L-Z4WD/home Please mark your gift “In Memory of Rev. Ed Riedesel.”

For additional details please visit www.lindseyfuneralhomes.com.