Obituary of Edward James Herbster

Edward James Herbster, age 91, a long-time resident of Rye, NY, passed away at his home in Greenwich, CT on August 13, 2021. Ed was born September 8th, 1929 in Newark, NJ to Edward E. and Louisa (MacPhee) Herbster. After attending public and parochial school in Hillside and East Orange, NJ, Ed attended Villanova University and Columbia University, where he received his BS in Chemical Engineering. Ed served with the US Army as a Chemist. After an honorable discharge, Ed worked at Rohm & Haas in Philadelphia as a Chemical Engineer. He subsequently took a position at Mobil Oil Company where he had a long and successful career until his retirement in 1984. Ed spent more than 45 years as a prominentmember in many philanthropic organizations, notably serving as Rotarian President of the Rye Rotary, The Rye Historical Society/Knapp House Restoration, and as a founding member of SPRYE. He was also an active member of Resurrection Church and served as Commodore and a Governor at Shenorock Shore Club. Ed was a true renaissance man with numerous hobbies. He loved to sail and work with his hands. He enjoyed taking woodworking and photography classes at the New School as well as courses at the Culinary Institute of America. He was a passionate supporter of the arts and loved jazz music, science fiction, and history.

The most important part of Ed’s life, however, was his family. He was a true patriarch, and will be remembered as a great listener, and a consummate problem solver with a dry sense of humor and a no-nonsense attitude. He is predeceased by his beloved wife of 60 years, Eileen (Born) Herbster. He is survived by two younger brothers, Gene Herbster and Monsignor Kenneth Herbster, and five children: Anne M. Herbster of Rockville, MD; James E. Herbster (Karen) of Port Chester, NY; Kathleen M. Wood (John) of Rye, NY; Barbara A. Distasio(Dylan) of Rowayton, CT; and Christopher G. Herbster (Elizabeth) Ormond Beach, FL. Ed also had eleven grandchildren who will miss him dearly: Katherine Lyons (Matt) of Duxbury, MA; Mary Anderson (Harold), of New Canaan, CT; Jaime Kahn (Steven), of NY; Colleen Capalbo (Thomas) of Rye, NY;  John Herbster (Kristen), of Greenwich, CT; Andrew Wood of Rye, NY; Brendan Wood, of Nashville, TN; Caroline Herbster of Atlanta, GA; Margaret Herbster of Rockville, MD; Brian Herbster of Ormond Beach, FL; and Maren Distasio of Rowayton, CT. Ed took great pleasure in engaging with his eight great grandchildren: Leo, Cornelia and Seamus Lyons; Chip and June Anderson; Rose and James Capalbo; and Vera Kahn.

Visitation will be held at Graham’s Funeral Home, in Rye, NY on Wednesday, August 18th, from 4 PM to 7 PM. A funeral mass will be held on August 19th at 10 AM at Resurrection Church in Rye, NY.  The mass will be livestreamed for those who are unable to attend in person.  To view the livestream, please click here.  In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Ed Herbster’s name to The Rotary Club of Rye, NY(https://www.ryerotary.org/ ) to support their college scholarship fund or SPRYE (https://www.sprye.org/).