passed on

Hello everyone,

It is with a heavy heart that I write this post to let you all know that my dad passed away, quite suddenly and painlessly, last Saturday. I’ll include a link to his Denver Post obituary which was published today (http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/denverpost/obituary.aspx?pid=177520624), as well as a fuller biography below, which is also available at the Drinkwine Mortuary obituaries website (http://www.drinkwinemortuary.com/listing). Thank you for all of your prayers and positive thoughts over the past 7 years, they have been so appreciated.

Love,
Kristy, Dawn, and Marian

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Edward William (Ed) Hollingshead, engineer and mediator, beloved husband and father, passed away January 23, 2016 at age 66 at Orchard Park Healthcare Center as a result of a brain aneurysm suffered in 2009. He is survived by his wife Marian (Duwe) Hollingshead, daughters Kristy (Tristan) Seitz and Dawn (Brian) Whiting, and grandsons Van and Escher Whiting. He is preceded in death by his parents Gustav and Lucy (Fehl) Hollingshead.

Born in Jersey City, NJ, Ed received his engineering degree from Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, NJ in 1971. There he enjoyed singing in the glee club - a precursor to many years in church choirs – and joined the ROTC. After college, Ed joined the Air Force where he received his meteorology training in Raleigh, NC and was then stationed at Carswell Air Force Base in Dallas-Ft. Worth, TX. He came to Madison, WI for his master’s degree, where he met and married Marian, his instructor in his first meteorology course there – she gave him an A- in the course but gives him an A+ as a husband.

After graduation, Ed and Marian moved to Bellevue, NE where Ed was stationed at Global Weather Central. He and Marian had fun co-chairing the local chapter of the American Meteorological Society. The Hollingsheads soon became Mama Bear and Papa Bear with the birth of their elder daughter, Kristy. Shortly after, Ed was given the choice of where to go for a remote (unaccompanied) assignment, so he chose Seoul, Korea where Marian managed to get a position as an Agency for International Development professor at Seoul National University. The whole family was in Korea until Ed’s dad died unexpectedly and his mother had a stroke, at which point Ed separated from the Air Force and moved to Denver, where he was delighted by the birth of their younger daughter, Dawn, who was quickly nicknamed Dawn Bear, a nickname that stuck with her (much to her chagrin) well into high school.

In Denver, Ed worked for Martin Marietta (now Lockheed Martin) as a system engineer. When Ed was caught in the massive aerospace layoffs in 1992, he decided to become a mediator and was certified by the University of Denver. He supported the Presbytery of Denver and Jefferson County Mediation Services as a volunteer and eventually was employed by Jefferson County to develop a Victim-Offender Mediation Program. He made good use of his free time by serving as a (fabulous!) “Guard Dad” to the Chatfield Senior High School marching band color guard and winter guard, for 3 years with Kristy and then 4 more with Dawn. In 1998, he was approached by Boeing and returned to aerospace as a system engineer, where he remained until his brain aneurysm in 2009. Ed served as Clerk of Session at Genesis Presbyterian Church for fifteen years, after which he and Marian transferred to Columbine United Church where they were both active in choir.

Known as the “Mayor” of South Mesa Oak where they lived since 1986, he was frequently seen “porching” papers early in the morning and enjoying the sight of deer – and occasionally moose – drinking from the pond by the front door. He particularly enjoyed the Christmas luminaria, organizing and lighting hundreds of luminaria candles for more than twenty years to ensure that the entire block was completely lighted. People from all over Ken Caryl would come to enjoy the peace and quiet of the display.

Summers included many family camping trips to the mountains. Ed and Marian loved hiking in the mountains (particularly when it was not thundering!), Kristy and Dawn enjoyed cutting firewood with Ed after the forced march on Saturdays, and everyone had fun with wieners over the campfire and the required s’mores. As the girls got older, summer trips included visits to Mexico, Canada, Britain, and Spain. The highlight of all the family vacations was the trip in 2002 to the south island of New Zealand. The helicopter tour of the glaciers was amazing! Landing on top of a narrow ridge above Milford Sound was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and it was fun eating “kibbles” at the top of New Zealand’s tallest waterfall.

Ed touched countless lives during his sojourn on this earth, and we all treasure our many happy memories with him. Comments from friends and family are welcome below.

A Celebration of Life will be held at Columbine United Church, 6375 S Platte Canyon Rd Littleton, CO 80123. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be made to the Brain Aneurysm Foundation (www.bafound.org/donate) or Habitat for Humanity (www.habitat.org).

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ed is still hanging in there

One more year-end update. Ed is still unresponsive. He is still at Orchard Park rehab - we appreciate their good care.

This year has been busy - our daughter Kristy in D.C. got married in August. It was interesting planning a wedding in Portland, Oregon while Kristy and Tristan were in D.c. Kristy found a good wedding coordinator who did a great job! Our other daughter Dawn was an 8-month pregnant matron of honor, so we were all relieved when she and Brian had no difficulty driving from Denver to Portland and back again. Brian was the officiating minister, so we were all particularly grateful when they both made it to Portland! We were also grateful that Kristy and Tristan went directly to their honeymoon cruise which returned to port 3 days before Hurricane Irene hit. They were safely tucked in back in D.C. by the time Irene came their way.

Our first grandchild was born 6 weeks later (here in Denver!). Van William Whiting weighed in at 9 pounds 2 ounces, so it is perhaps not surprising that Dawn ended up having a C-section since he just didn't come out. He is a bouncing 15 pounder at this point. Dawn did note that Van got a lot cuter when he started sleeping through the night.

Hope you all had a good year. Thank you for all your good thoughts and prayers.

ed's condition is essentially unchanged

Just a year-end update. Ed is still non-responsive.

He continues to have significant infections. In August he had a suprapubic catheter inserted into the bladder, which seems to be a better arrangement.

Ed is still at Orchard Park rehab facility. We continue to think well of them and appreciate their care.

Thank you for all of your good thoughts and prayers.

ed was in the hospital but is back at nursing home

I feel like I jinxed Ed - I posted my optimistic news on July 7, and on July 9 he went into the ICU!

The PICC line in his arm became infected and the infection quickly spread, so he was a very sick puppy for a number of days. He did eventually get the upper hand on the infections and was transferred to a regular ward, then back to the nursing home on July 16. He finished the IV antibiotics last Wednesday, July 28, so we're hoping that he continues to do okay.

Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers.

ed is staying infection-free

Ed finished up his antibiotics on May 22. Since then, he has been doing a great job of staying infection-free and keeping his temperature normal. I think it could be a record. We are very grateful!

He's still at Orchard Park nursing home.

ed's back at orchard park nursing home

Well, the hospital never did figure out what was causing Ed's fever, but they did figure out an IV antibiotic that seems to fix whatever the problem is. So, Ed will continue to get the IV antibiotic at the nursing home for the next 10 days, and we pray that his temperature will continue to be normal.

back to the hospital :(

Ed's temperature went up to 102.7 this morning, and continued to go up after Tylenol. We called the ambulance when Ed was at 103.4, and when they arrived less than an hour later, he was up to 104.2.

We don't know what's causing the temperature. His chest xray looks OK. We'll just have to wait for the labs to come back. It may take several days for the cultures. When I left tonight, his temperature was back down to 101, for which I'm thankful.