Edward Elrod

Ed was born in 1934, and was a resident of Indianapolis for most of his life until he and his late wife, Carol – who predeceased him by five months – moved permanently to Southwest Florida in the early 2000s. Ed excelled at a wide variety of activities: ham radio operator, Boy Scout leader, clarinetist, search and rescue team member, renovator of old houses, church sound master, and prolific writer of letters to companies with poor customer service (receiving some form of restitution from many).

Ed was indeed a man of service, supporting groups and causes that were important to him, like rebuilding houses on the Caribbean island of Montserrat, which had been devastated by Hurricane Hugo. His travels as a communications technician for an Indiana search and rescue team led him all over the country, including to New York City after 9/11 and Biloxi, MS after hurricane Katrina.

He will always be remembered for telling jokes, some good, some bad, some off color. Many were eye-rollers . But, as he said himself: “I subscribe to the Red Skelton philosophy -- that things are so bad in the world, if you can make someone laugh, you’ve done a good thing.”

He was devoted to his wife of nearly 69 years, and leaves behind two children, Scott and Diana, both of the San Francisco Bay Area, as well as sister-in-law Jean Jansen, granddaughter Emily and former daughter in law Molly Black. He also leaves many friends -- at Shell Point Retirement community and All Faiths Unitarian Church, of which he and Carol were founding members (Fort Myers, FL) – as well as in Indianapolis. This includes lifelong friends from high school and college.

Before he died, Ed shared three important things to say: we need to help those who are sick, we need to feed those who are hungry, and we need to find many more people to take on these tasks. In lieu of flowers or other remembrances, please find a way to be of service in your community. There will be no memorial.