Ian Murray Edward

Ian was born May 6, 1946, in Mt. Vernon, Illinois to Scottish immigrant parents Christine and Ian Edward. The family moved to Boynton Beach, Florida when Ian was in elementary school. He graduated from Florida State University and enlisted in the U.S. Army.

He completed the officer candidacies program and parachutist training at Fort Benning, Georgia. He served in the Army Ranger training program at Fort Benning before being deployed to Vietnam. He served on a Mobile Advisory Team and as Team XO of the Province Team while in Vietnam.

Ian completed a master’s program at Florida State University and moved to Memphis where he began a lifelong career at the University of Memphis Library. He served as Department Head of Acquisitions until his retirement in 2008. He became a Master Gardener and logged many volunteer hours at Dixon and the Lichterman Nature Center. He had an encyclopedic knowledge of cinema and was quick to recommend movies and current books to his friends.

Ian was preceded in death by his parents and his brother Jim. He is survived by his wife of 55 years, Barbara; daughters, Mairi Albertson (Eric), Kristen Griffy (Charles), and grandchildren, Maya Griffy and Ian Griffy.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials be made to the Memphis Union Mission or to the Mid-South Food Bank.

A memorial gathering will be from 5:00pm to 8:00pm on Friday, February 7 at Memphis Funeral Home, 5599 Poplar Avenue, Memphis, TN. Celebration of life service at West Tennessee Veteran Cemetery will be held at a later date.