Statler Family Obituaries
Statler, Dr. Edward Matthew
STATLER, Dr. Edward Matthew, 55, of Tucson, passed away October 16, 2004. He is survived by his wife, Alice, and their two children, Matthew and Marcy. He is also survived by his mother, Lucy Verbeck of Sierra Vista; his brother, Dan Statler and sister, Debra Short and families of Tucson.
A memorial service will be held on Saturday, October 23, 2004 at 2:00 p.m. at the El Camino Baptist Church, 7777 E. Speedway. Donations may be made to CB International, 1501 W. Mineral Avenue, Littleton, CO, 80120. Arrangements entrusted to ADAIR FUNERAL HOMES, Avalon Chapel.
Obituary was printed in the area Tucson newspapers on October 20, 2004.
Submitted by Brandy Long
Brandy mentioned that time of death was at 1:30PM and that his ashes will be spread
in Cooliage, AZ after the memorial service.
Edward was the son of Ralph Stewart Statler, who was the son of Edwin Keith Statler.
The following article was printed in the December 2004 issue of the Ice Cube, a newspaper publication of Dakar Academy in Dakar, Senegal:
Edward Matthew Statler was born March 30, 1949, to Ralph and Lucy Statler in Douglas, Arizona. Ed was the first of five children born to Ralph and Lucy. The family soon included Dan, Karen, Greg, and Debra. The Statlers lived mostly in southern Arizona for Ed’s growing up years. Ed trusted in Christ as his Savior at the age of eight and felt the call to the ministry in his teenage years.
Ed graduated with honors from Amphitheater High School in Tucson in 1967. He thoroughly enjoyed his high school years, participating in many clubs and student government, and was an accomplished gymnast with the school team. Ed began his college career at the University of Arizona in the college of engineering but transferred to classical studies in his second year to prepare for the ministry. After graduation in 1971, Ed enrolled in Western Baptist Seminary in Portland, Oregon to train for this call of God on his life. While in seminary, Ed became interested in ministry overseas. Within a couple of years, Ed was in Italy with Greater Europe Mission on a short-term team. His short term turned into about 10 years. He worked as the business manager in evangelism and discipleship in those years.
In August of 1982, Ed met Alice Forsythe, a missionary to Senegal studying the French language in Grenoble, France. It was love at first sight, and they were engaged three months later. However, they couldn’t marry for almost two years because of their respective commitments. During those two years, they sought God’s will for their field of service after their marriage. August 4, 1984, Ed and Alice became husband and wife at Del Norte Baptist Church (now New Life Baptist Fellowship). In 1985, Matthew Statler was born to Ed and Alice, and the young family made preparations to go to Senegal as church planting missionaries, arriving there in 1986. After a refresher course in French, Ed set about learning Wolof (the trade language of the Senegalese). He became active in village evangelism and in teaching and preaching at the Baptist church of Thies, Senegal. In 1989, Marcy joined the family. Ed was happy and proud to be the father of a son and a daugh- ter.
In 1995, the family moved to the capital city of Dakar. Ed became the business manager for the mission as well as the director of the Bible Institute. Ed could do many tasks and soon had other jobs, such as board chairman for the missionary children’s school and maintenance and building supervisor of the camp property for the mission. With the goal of improving the academic excellence of the Bible Institute of Dakar (IED), Ed completed a doctoral studies program and received his degree in September of 2003.
In July 2004, after a year of visiting supporting churches and ready to return to Senegal, Ed was diagnosed with liver cancer. Ed was called to his eternal home Saturday, October 16, 2004.
He was preceded in death by his father Ralph, his sister Karen, and his brother, Greg. He is survived by his mother Lucy, his brother Dan and his sister Debra. He leaves behind his wife of 20 years, Alice, his son Matt, his daughter Marcy, and many loving family members
©2004 by David Statler of StatlerWeb
Last Updated: November 08, 2010