Obituary of Edwin Vincent Linek

ED LINEK – A LIFE WELL LIVED

Edwin (Ed) Linek, age 88, passed away on January 13, 2018 at Fair Oaks Hospital.  He was predeceased by his wife, Alice, in 2000.  He leaves his four sons, Ernest and his wife Martha Finnegan, John and his wife Teresa Germann, Thomas and his wife Nancy Morton, and Mark. His infant daughter, Ann Marie, was born and died in 1964.  He also leaves his four grandchildren, James, Katherine, Evan and Jesse, as well as numerous nephews, nieces, and other relatives and friends.  He was predeceased by his siblings John F. Linek, Adolph Linek, Anna Sienko, and Catherine Trond.

Ed was born on October 27, 1929 in Taunton, Mass., two days before the Stock Market crashed.  Ed was the son of the late Vincent and Mary (Rzadca) Linek, and he lost his parents during the Depression. His brother John took care of the 10-year-old boy and their sister, who was 12 at the time.  Ed graduated from Taunton High School and attended Seattle University.

In 1947, Ed joined the Navy as a radio operator. He served in the Korean War from July 1950 to August 1951, joining the reserves as a communications technician a year later. In 1967 President Nixon made him a Warrant Officer. After over 40 years of service, he retired from the reserves as a Chief Warrant Officer 4.  He will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery with his wife.

When Ed joined the reserves in 1952, he started working for Western Union Telegraph Company in Seattle, Washington. Working for Western Union sent Ed and his family around the United States, with stops in California, Tennessee, Texas, New Jersey, New York and Virginia.  He retired from Western Union when his division was sold in 1986. He retired a second time from GTE in 1993.

Ed was active in the scouting program serving as both a Cubmaster and Scoutmaster.  He was a Little League coach and an active basketball player, who had a hook shot that was hard to stop.  

Ed and his wife moved to Sterling in 1976 from East Syracuse, New York. Upon arrival, Ed became active as a service organization volunteer, being a member of more than a dozen groups, including the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), the American Legion, the Knights of Columbus, Sterling Foundation, Ruritan International, BOPE (Elks), and Toastmasters, to name but a few.  In 2000 he was honored with one of the Loudoun Volunteer Services’ annual Outstanding Volunteer Awards.  More recently he was named Knight of the Year by his KOC Council for his volunteer activities.  

Over the years many Sterling locals have encountered Ed, either as a clown or as Santa Claus. In the late 1970s, he volunteered to be Mr. Pockets for a church carnival, so his late wife made him a clown costume. He volunteered as the carnival clown for another few years, and then continued using the costume in parades, Sterling Fest and events at Claude Moore Park. He called himself Mr. K.C. for Kids Clown.

He was also well known for his role as Santa Claus, something he did repeatedly for the VFW, the Knights of Columbus and the Sterling Ruritan Club and at Falcon’s Landing and Claude Moore Park, among other places and events.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Good Samaritan Council (6175) Knights of Columbus, Sterling Ruritan, VFW Post 1177 or a charity of your choice.
He will be missed.

A wake will be held at the Adams-Green Funeral Home on Sunday 28 January from 2-4 pm, with a funeral mass at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Herndon on Monday 29 January at 11 am.   Internment at Arlington National Cemetery will follow at a later date.