Edwin Beckenbach Obituary

Edwin Simons Beckenbach

February 3, 1939 – November 17, 2024

Edwin Simons Beckenbach passed away on November 17, 2024 after an extended illness. He was born in Houston, Texas on February 3, 1939. The family moved to Santa Monica, California, where he spent most of his growing-up years, and where he eventually earned a Ph.D. in Biostatistics from UCLA. He was privileged to spend most of his career at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory where he managed a program to apply technologies developed for space exploration to the solution of medical problems here on Earth.

Following retirement, he and his wife Sharon followed friends to Nevada County, bought some land in the North San Juan (NSJ) hills, discovered they lived in paradise, and never looked back! Ed often told people that Nevada County is just the right size: big enough to have the resources to carry out worthwhile projects for the people, and small enough that most people know most people, and if you want to know where to apply your talents best, just ask your neighbor.

He began life on the San Juan Ridge by volunteering as a Firefighter with the NSJ Volunteer Fire Department. After about two years, he ran for, and was elected to, the NSJ Fire Protection District Board of Directors. He served four terms in this position, and was heard to say it was the most rewarding thing he had done for a long time. He was elected as a Special Districts representative to the Nevada County Local Agency Formation Commission, where he served three terms. He also served two years on the Board of Directors of what is now the Sierra Family Health Center, an institution that provides a wide range of much-needed medical services to Ridge communities. Until shortly before his death he served on The Union newspaper's Editorial Board.

Ed's hobbies were growing orchids, doing a more-than-adequate job in the kitchen, and maintaining and improving his home and the land it sits on, no small task.

He is survived by his wife, Sharon Vedrode Beckenbach, a daughter, Elizabeth Beckenbach Leavy, her husband Benjamin Leavy, his grandchildren, Isabelle and Nate, and a son, Edwin Howell Beckenbach.

A Celebration of Life will be held at a later date. Ed had a great love for the North San Juan Firefighters. Those planning an expression of sympathy may wish to consider a donation to the North San Juan Fire Protection District, P.O. Box 299, North San Juan, CA 95960.