NAL/PAA/DL Capt. Edwin Clements Lunsford Jr.

 

~ IN MEMORY ~

Military veteran, NAL/PAA/DL Capt. Edwin Clements Lunsford Jr.

June 24, 1939 ~ February 1, 2023

 

Notice of passing ….retired National/Pan Am/Delta pilot Captain Edwin Clements Lunsford Jr., age 83.  I believe Captain Lunsford began his commercial flying career 01-03-1967 and retired with Delta Air Lines, based NYC.  He is survived by his wife Aubrey and by his sons and their families.

Obituary information is available online at

https://www.news-journalonline.com/obituaries/pdtb0421385

For those wishing to send condolences, I see the Lunsford’s residence listed in whitepages as

121 Via Capri

New Smyrna Beach, FL 32169

 

Thank you,

~ Carol for the PCN 

 

Obituary : Edwin Clements Lunsford, Jr.

Edwin Clements Lunsford, Jr., passed away peacefully at home on February 1, 2023, in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, with Aubrey Shepherd Lunsford, his wife of 61 years, at his side. A Florida native, Ed was born in Miami on June 24, 1939, to Louise Bullen Lunsford and Dr. Edwin C. Lunsford, Sr. The oldest of three boys, Ed grew up enjoying his father’s favorite pastimes of boating, flying planes, hunting and fishing in the waters and woods of South and Central Florida. Ed attended military high school at The McCallie School in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and earned his B.A. in Economics at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, where he played on the men’s soccer team and belonged to Phi Delta Theta fraternity. He graduated from Emory in May 1961 and enlisted in the United States Navy’s Officer Candidate School. While at Emory University Ed met the love of his life, Atlanta native Aubrey Milam Shepherd. They married on September 30, 1961, 3 weeks before he reported to Naval O.C.S. at NAS Pensacola. Ed earned Navy wings in 1963 and was stationed at Naval Air Station Barbers Point, Hawaii. He served as a Lieutenant and Patrol Plane Commander with VP-22, the “Blue Goose” Squadron. VP-22 flew Lockheed P2 Neptune and P3 Orion submarine surveillance and maritime patrol across the Pacific Theater, deploying to M.C.A.S. Iwakuni, Japan and N.A.S. Sangley Point in the Philippines. Ed and Aubrey’s sons, Edwin III and Jeffrey, were born while the couple was stationed in Hawaii. The VP-22 squadron became lifelong friends, meeting at bi-annual reunions. Ed received an Honorable Discharge from the Navy in 1967 and the couple returned to Miami, where their third son, James, was born and Ed began his careers as a commercial pilot and real estate investor. Ed’s flying career spanned almost three decades and over 17,000 flight hours as a Co-Pilot and Captain for National Airlines, Pan American Airways and Delta Airlines.

The family moved to New Smyrna Beach in 1976, attracted by the small beachside community where nature, fishing and hunting are so abundant. Many summers were spent in the North Georgia mountains with their Georgia relatives. After his airline career, Ed bought a Harley-Davidson Sturgis and rode with buddies across the USA, in New Zealand and Australia. He began wind surfing which progressed to sailing a small sailboat, then a catamaran. He and Aubrey sailed along the Eastern Seaboard; coastal Florida and the Gulf to Mississippi; the Caribbean and Central America; and in the Pacific region he loved, sailing offshore Australia, New Caledonia and New Zealand. Ed was a member of Coronado United Methodist Church in New Smyrna Beach.

“Big Dad,” as he was called by his extended family, is survived by his wife Aubrey, their sons Edwin III, Jeffrey and James and their wives, seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren; and his brother Joseph Lee Lunsford. Ed was preceded in death by his parents Edwin Sr. and Louise, and his youngest brother William Lewis Lunsford. The family sincerely appreciates the prayers and messages from their friends. In lieu of flowers the family suggests a donation to The Special Operations Warrior Foundation at https://specialops.org

There will be a private ceremony at Coronado United Methodist Church and a gathering in North Georgia at a later date.

 

Published in Daytona Beach News-Journal