Theologian, educator and pastor Edmund P. Clowney died Sunday March 20, 2005 at the Hospital of the University of Virginia, after a short illness. He was 87.

Ed was born July 30, 1917, the only child of a Philadelphia cabinetmaker. His academic gifts appeared early, as did his artistic abilities. One of Ed’s first jobs was sign-writing for a local grocer. Later he would illustrate Sunday School materials and give evangelistic 'Chalk Talks' to seaside crowds.

Ed arrived at Wheaton College certain of his family’s Presbyterian faith, but unsure of his own role. There, while struggling to meet God’s demands, he found a verse in Jonah: “Salvation is of the Lord.”  That message, of God bestowing life on believers despite their failings, became his central theme. Also at Wheaton, Ed met Jean Wright, with whom he would enjoy 63 years of marriage. They were to have five children, 21 grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren.

While Ed gathered degrees from Westminster Theological Seminary, Yale University Divinity School, and Wheaton, and later assumed the first presidency of Westminster, he bore himself not as a fusty academic but as a well-humored pastor, approachable and gregarious. His sermons were narrations of a joyous gospel.

Painstaking in his scholarship, Ed’s prime concern became to reveal Jesus’ presence throughout the Bible (e.g., Preaching Christ in All the Scriptures and The Unfolding Mystery). He wrote 10 books and hundreds of articles, many of which have been translated around the world. His last book, How Christ Transforms the Ten Commandments, was accepted by his publisher only days before his death.

Ed helped establish satellite seminaries for Westminster in California and Florida, a Reformed seminary in Aix-en-Provence, and a theological studies program for urban ministers in a rough section of North Philadelphia. His passion for service led him to relocate four times after his 'retirement' in 1984 - to teach at Westminster West, help at Christ the King Church in Houston, and serve as theologian-in-residence at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Charlottesville.

Ed’s sense of humor and his love for people was radiant. In the last week of his life, even as speech failed him, he joked with visitors and family by hand signals and wiggled eyebrows. He took much comfort in hymns sung by friends around his bed. Though Ed claimed his high school music teacher once begged him not to sing, he was clearly eager to join in that unending doxology his whole life had anticipated.