In memory of Ed Garcia of Russell Investments

Ed Garcia passed away this morning (January 29, 2018). Ed was a Senior Portfolio Manager at Russell Investments.

Ed was a good guy, a straight-shooter and had a great sense of humor.

He was battling with some type of cancer for a number of years and put up a great fight.  Ed was a positive thinker, something I believe enabled him to put off the inevitable this long. 

Ed was an avid fisherman who loved the outdoors and loved life.

The last time I saw Ed was a couple of years ago in New York City.  He was in town for an industry event and myself and Greg Spick of UPS met up one evening.  Between Ed and Greg I hadn't laughed so much in a long time.  We hung out together for at least a couple of hours and, even though it would have been likely that we discussed 'the industry' we didn't: we talked about family, about things that we liked to do, about things that were more meaningful in our lives than work.  Rest assured there was some talk about what was going on in the industry, from the perspective of a pension fund investor, a pension fund consultant and me - but mostly about our lives.  

Ed and I had checked in with each other periodically. I had reached out to Ed by email last week and didn't hear back from him - not typical as he had always been very responsive.  I had a sinking feeling something had happened and reached out to a mutual friend to see if she had heard anything.  And then, just a few minutes ago, I received confirmation, from a former colleague or Ed's that something indeed did happen. The worst of all possible things had happened.  

I am sitting typing this and thinking that in May 2017 Ed wrote me that he was going to be in New York and did I have time to get together.  I was working with a client in North Carolina and would miss him that time - which, given the events, would have been the last time he and I would have caught up. In September I wrote to see if he would be at PREA in Chicago but he wasn't going to be there. 

This 'Recommendation' is on Ed's LinkedIn profile:

Ed is a tremendously thoughtful and insightful into the inner-workings of real estate investment management firms, their strategies, and the associated risk-adjusted opportunities for success.

Ed was at Russell for 22 and a half years.

The email from his former colleague this morning ended with this:  'He was courageous to the end. He was a gracious person who was always professional'. 

What a wonderful legacy.

Tough to say goodbye Ed!

Rest in peace my friend.