IN MEMORIAM

Edwin S. Baxter, 93, Exeter;

WWII Veteran, SUNY Professor

EXETER CENTER – Edwin S. Baxter Jr, 93, of Exeter Center, a World War II veteran and retired SUNY Oneonta professor, passed away Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2017 at his residence in Cooperstown.

Edwin was born in Sayre, Pa., on Sept. 4, 1924, the son of the late Edwin S. Baxter Sr and Edith Van Wormer Baxter. He was predeceased by his wife of 56 years, the former Priscilla La Forest Baxter of Exeter Center, in 2009.

Ed grew up in Elmira. At the age of 17, he joined the Navy and shipped off to the South Pacific, where he saw action in key battles in the Solomon Islands, Guadalcanal, and Bougainville.

After WWII, Ed completed high school, and went on to New York University on the GI Bill, graduating in 1951 with his B.A. Ed taught secondary school Spanish for three years, received his M.A. degree in Spanish from the University of New Mexico, and his Ph.D. in Spanish from Binghamton University.

After a faculty position at a community college, he began his 20-year teaching career at SUNY Oneonta, retiring in 1987.

Ed and Priscilla spent many winters in Florida, and traveled to favorite destinations, visiting Spain, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. He was an avid tennis player competing in many tournaments. He read books by what he considered the “four great authors,” Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Faulkner and O’Hara.

Ed is survived by his daughter Paula Baxter and her husband, son-in-law Barry Katzen, of Scottsdale, Ariz., and the people he also considered as family at Woodside Hall in Cooperstown.

Graveside services with military honors will be 10 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 24, at the Exeter Center Cemetery, County Route 22, Exeter. There will be no calling hours.

Arrangements are by NYS Licensed Funeral Director David Delker at Delker and Terry Funeral Home, 30 South Street Edmeston. Condolences may be left at www.Delkerterryfuneralhome.com or on Facebook at Delker and Terry Funeral Home.