Edward Joseph Theriault

Edward Joseph Theriault passed from pain into paradise on Monday, June 15th, at the age of 69, surrounded by his loving wife and children.

Edward was born as the fourth and youngest child of Edgar and Dorothy in Freeport, Long Island. He and his siblings Diane Davie, Robert, and Frank, had an idyllic early childhood on a farm in New Hampshire. His formative years were spent growing up in the New Jersey town of Lawrence Harbor.

Edward enlisted in the Marine Corp in 1974 at the age of 17. During his seven years of service he was an Expert Marksman, toured aboard the U.S.S. Racine, and was stationed all around the world. He had many fond memories of Morocco, Hawaii, the Philippines, Germany, and Norway. From his first day as a new recruit through the rest of his life, Ed was an exemplar of the Marine Corp motto Semper fidelis, “Always faithful”.

Upon leave at the end of his enlistment he met Regina Marie Eckstrom, immediately thinking “So this is the woman I’m going to marry.” In less than two weeks they were engaged, and were wed one year later on March 27th, 1982. Together they raised two children in Howell, New Jersey.

Ed is survived by his wife Gina; his son Matthew; his daughter Jamie and her husband Noah; his four grandchildren, Sadie, Riley, Kye, and Audrey; and his brother Bob.

In 1988 Ed set off on a wildly successful career in the oil industry with the Hess Corporation, beginning as an entry level dock worker at Second Reserve in Port Reading, NJ and rising to the ranks of supervisor, superintendent, and eventually manager of the largest terminal on the east coast.

After working in Brooklyn, Bayonne, Baltimore, and Wilmington, North Carolina, he happily retired in 2014. He stayed in the later coastal community for several years before finding his final home in historic Gettysburg. A lover of history, he daily drove through the battlefield.

Throughout all that time Ed lived out his steadfast faith in Christ in many ways. Raised Catholic, he joined the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod in 1988. He served as an Elder at Prince of Peace in Howell, as well as the church’s custodian, and attended many Bible studies with his son.

But Ed always felt closest to God while out in nature, and his passion in life was hiking. His aspiration was to backpack the entirety of the Appalachian Trail, and for long his retirement plans consisted of hiking throughout Europe.

Ed stayed active as a Post Commander in the American Legion from 2015 - 2017. One of his chief joys of his last years were the hours spent at the Veterans of Foreign Wars, where he served as a Trustee for a time.

Ed was fiercely intelligent, contributing to his success in the Marine Corp, oil industry, and many games of Trivial Pursuit.

There will be a Celebration of Life on September 12th, which would have been his 70th birthday.

There being no such thing as an ex-Marine, Ed is still serving in the heavenly host, or perhaps partaking of the feast to come, and at the Resurrection will be backpacking through God’s Country forevermore.