EDWARD EMIL ROESSLER (1949-1980)

Ed Roessler was born in Philadelphia on January 9, 1949 to Helga and Otto Roessler. He was the first of two sons with Gary being born in 1954. In 1963, the family moved to Hatboro. Throughout his life he always enjoyed playing baseball, softball, and whiffle ball. Ed played organized baseball thru the age of 15. After graduation he played softball in his local church league. His favorite position was centerfield. Ed was a serious Phillies fan for his entire life. As for football, he closely followed the Green Bay Packers and was a Bart Starr fan. As a bowling enthusiast, Ed participated for years in numerous leagues down at the old Willow Grove Bowling Alleys. He was a good bowler, and one of his teams won the championship.

He was drafted into the US Army and served from 1968 to 1970. Fortunately for Ed he served 19 months overseas in Darmstadt, Germany (near Frankfurt) in the Army Corps of Engineers. (HHC 547^th). He was the only soldier in his entire company not to go to Vietnam. His Aunt and Uncle lived close to the Army base so he spent many weekends with them and that made his deployment much easier. In the service, Ed received a number of medals including an expert marksman medal with his M-16. He rose to the rank of Specialist E-5 in his two years with the Army. He did well during his service time and never had to face the dangers in Vietnam. After his return, he married Linda Wurst in 1971. They had three children.

On June 6, 1980, at the age of 31, Ed died of stomach and esophageal cancer. He is buried in Whitemarsh Cemetery. Unfortunately, the children were very young at his passing. Ed was 6, Carrie was 3, and Brian was only 1. Linda raised all three children on her own and did a beautiful job. All are now married and have 7 kids between them. Ed would be so proud of his 3 children and 7 grandchildren if he were alive today.

We would like to thank Ed’s brother Gary for supplying facts for this story and rounding up photos of Ed. His daughter, Carrie would like the class of 66 to know what a good father, husband, son, brother, and friend Ed was in his short lifetime. He has been missed.