Roll Call Tribute

Published in The (New Orleans LA) Times-Picayune on July 30, 2017

Edmond Lawrence Faust Jr.
Col. Edmond Lawrence Faust, Jr., 95, of New Orleans, Louisiana, died peacefully on June 28, 2017 at home in Lambeth House. A private burial was held at Lake Lawn Metairie Cemetery. He was preceded in death by his beloved wife of 69 years, Virginia Marie Whiteman Faust, his brother, Dr. Richard Alan Faust, and his sister, Consuelo Faust Walk. He is survived by three devoted children, Edmond L. Faust, III (Judy), Judith Faust, and Olive Elizabeth Faust (Frazer Rankin); by five grandchildren who brought great joy to him, Edmond L. Faust, IV (Mitzi), Jeffrey Arthur Faust (Katrina Glover), Kimberly Dorsey, Heather Dorsey, and Cristina Marie Faust Mueller (Ethan Nosowsky); by five great-grandchildren, Matthew Faust, Olive Beatrix Faust Nosowsky, Rose Oona Faust Nosowsky, Gabriel Glover, and Devin Oakey; and by numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins. Col. Faust was born in 1921 in New Orleans, the son of the late Dr. Edmond L. Faust and Consuelo Abaunza. Ed's early years were spent in New Orleans where he attended Henry Allen School and Alcee Fortier High School, graduating in 1938. He attended Tulane University for one year, interspersed with travels to Central America. In the summer of 1939, he was on board the battleship USS Wyoming as a Naval ROTC student when he was admitted to the US Military Academy at West Point. The Navy graciously allowed him to disembark in New York. His father joked that he might have been the only West Point cadet ever transported there on a Navy warship. At West Point Ed excelled, graduating 18th out of 409 in the Class of January 1943; his class's time at the Academy was shortened by six months because of World War II. He was commissioned in the Army Corps of Engineers at graduation on January 19, 1943, and was married to Virginia Marie "Ginny" Whiteman five days later in Fort Worth, Texas. The couple's first child, Larry, was born in February 1944 before Ed's unit deployed to Europe. Ginny and Larry moved to New Orleans to live with Ed's mother, while Ed's father, Dr. (Col.) Edmond L. Faust, Sr., served in the Medical Corps in the Pacific. Lt. Faust's unit supported the Allied armies advancing against Germany until VE day. He was crossing the US on his way to the Pacific theater in the summer of 1945 when the Japanese surrendered. After a tour at Ft. Jackson in Columbia, SC, where daughter Judy was born, he attended Texas A&M University where he earned an MS in Civil Engineering. During a two-year assignment in Alaska daughter Betsy was born, and shortly thereafter the family returned to Louisiana where Ed was Assistant Professor of Military Science at LSU. Ed then served in Korea while the family stayed at Ft. Ord, CA until the summer of 1954 when they reunited for memorable tours in Japan and Okinawa. After assignments in Texas and Pennsylvania, he served as Assistant Chief, Nuclear Power Division, Office of The Chief Of Engineers in Washington, DC. The family lived in Arlington, VA and were visited there by members of the extended Faust family for the "Capitol Tour" for the next 2 1/2 years. The summer of 1961 marked the beginning of the best family tour of Ed's career. He was assigned to Armed Forces Southern Europe (AFSOUTH) in Naples, Italy for three years. AFSOUTH is the NATO command for Italy, Greece, and Turkey, and Ed's job took him to the three countries to survey, inspect and approve projects being built by NATO. His son, Larry, USMA 1966, later served at some of those sites in Turkey in 1976. Deeply interested in language and languages all his life, Ed refreshed his French and Spanish, learned Italian during his lunch hours, and enjoyed practicing all of them during the family's many trips throughout Western Europe. Ed's next tour was as Deputy Post Engineer at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, NY, where son Larry was a cadet. After only one year, Ed was selected to attend the Army War College at Carlisle Barracks, PA. Graduating in 1966, Ed was assigned to the Weapon Systems Evaluation Group under the Secretary of Defense at the Pentagon. At the conclusion of that tour, Ed retired from the Army after 26 1/2 years of service. Ed came home to New Orleans, where he worked for the Dock Board/Port of New Orleans and then the Ocean Drilling and Exploration Company (ODECO), later to become Murphy Oil, from which he retired. Ed was a natural teacher who generously shared his knowledge with others, whether tutoring children with reading difficulties, recommending the perfect books to people about to take a trip, sending newspaper and magazine clippings to just the right person on just the right topic, or even in the past few months helping his daughters with French. His love of history was legendary among his family and friends, and made traveling with him an ongoing education. Above all, he was passionately devoted to his family, and took great joy in teaching his children, nephews and nieces, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Ed & Ginny enjoyed many years in New Orleans. During those years, Ed was a member of the Boston Club and the Society of American Military Engineers, in addition to his volunteering. In 1973, Ed was President of the Society of American Military Engineers, Louisiana Post, when it was selected as one of the outstanding posts in the United States. He and Ginny traveled overseas extensively, and often took children and grandchildren with them on trips in both the U.S. and in Europe. The West Point bond remained strong as January 1943 classmates and other friends visited Ed and Ginny on vacations or stayed with them for Mardi Gras. Ginny died on Oct. 11, 2012. Together again, they are buried at Lake Lawn Metairie Cemetery in New Orleans. The family is grateful to all the staff at Lambeth House for the years Ed and Ginny lived there. If so desired, donations may be made to Fisher House Foundation or Bastion New Orleans. To view and sign the family guestbook, please visit www.lakelawnmetairie.com.


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