Our beloved, Eddie Joe, has answered the last call bell. He departed us on October 1 at 1:35 am, just 3 weeks shy of his 48th birthday. Visitation will be 11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. Sunday, October 10, 2021 at Royer’s New Salem Funeral Home; Independence, MO. A Celebration of Life to follow at 12:00 p.m.

He was preceded in death by his father, Ed, and his grandfather, Joe, (both of whom were his namesake) along with an adoring younger brother, Tony, who was his best friend and often his collaborative mischief maker.

He leaves behind many deeply loved aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews, along with his doppelgänger and cherished son (Gavin), proud grandparents (Emma and Otis), his second dad (Chip), his loving mother (Leslie) who lived her entire life for his sake, his sister (Angie) and his 6 brothers – Chuck, Shane, Jason, Eric, Ian and Michael – all of whom now carry an emptiness in their hearts in the shape of Eddie’s gargantuan personality…and his personality was indeed gigantic, much like his appetite for life, love and engaging interactions. Even when he was unable (unwilling) to attend extended family functions, his personality was still present in flare and flamboyance. His life was a song, his family was his melody, his passions were his rhythm and he always had the volume dialed to 11. He lived all the way on, and he loved all the way on. He could cut a person down with his wit and sarcasm, but he could just as easily and joyfully build them up with praise, gratitude and support and make them feel truly alive. He didn’t hold back affectionate adulations for anyone and everyone in his life. He would give the shirt off his back, a room in his house, a week’s worth of meals, or a joke and a smile, blowing up your phone with messages, and he often did to those close to him. He loved all of us so intensely, especially Gavin and his mom, Leslie, who were both his constant topics of conversation. To be loved by him was to experience every human emotion amped up at all times. He was the first in his family to attend University, the first to get married, the first to buy a house, the first to have a windfall, the first to lose everything and the first to rebuild it. He was a marveling intellectual and a stimulating conversationalist. Though he was more intelligent than anyone in the room and stubborn as a donkey, he would genuinely listen to any well-reasoned argument. He cut his own path and defiantly walked it, thumbing his nose at the “shoulds” and “oughts” from other people. He was a sort of trailblazer in our family for the pursuit of personal progress, and he was the source of a great deal of inspiration (very much also for the person writing his eulogy). A relentless student of all things, he never stopped learning and he never tired of diligence. He was a skilled athlete-turned-philosopher, who got dealt a hard blow at an early age. Diagnosed with Diabetes and then Multiple Sclerosis, lesser men would have been knocked out by this one-two punch, but these tribulations never held him down nor defined him. Up until the very last hours when he did not have strength to lift the phone, he was testing for this certification or taking on that contract. He worked hard, laughed hard, played hard, cried hard and died hard. Now gone, he takes large pieces of all our hearts, and in their places, he leaves enormous love, humor and sweet memories. He’d likely tell us all to cheer up, cheers up and buck up, because life is short and broken hearts are for assholes.

Eddie, we love you and we’ll miss you like crazy. Now it’s time for you to rest easy and catch up with Tony. You’ve more than earned some leisure time, and you’ll never have to eat another egg sandwich. Just remember us down here as we scrape together some resolve to carry on. Give’em hell in heaven, and put in a good word for all of us. You’ll certainly find something to argue about with the Head Judge, so argue a little on our behalf.

Obituary submitted by family

Arrangements:  Royer’s New Salem Funeral Home, Independence, MO   816-796-8600