Long-time Lacey, Washington, resident Ed Burgert passed away peacefully the morning of Sunday, Sept. 22, 2019. In his final days, he was cared for by daughter Diana Nelson of Carmichael, California, longtime neighbor Linda Harrison, and by staff at Olympia Transitional Care and Rehabilitation.
Ed was born in Yakima on July 6. 1938, and raised in Winthrop, the only son of his late parents, Clifford Clyde and Ruth Maurine “Molly” Burgert (Starr), who gave him the nickname “Joe.” Ed was married to Victoria Varela Valencia, with whom he lived in Lacey until her passing in March 1999.
Ed attended Washington State University and was well-respected for his work during his career as a bank examiner and program manager for the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions. He was cited in a 2002 report by Gov. Locke as part of a team that developed a process for bank examinations that produced more timely oversight and reporting, as well as savings to the state.
A private service will be held later to inter his ashes in a site next to his parents in Winthrop.
Ed asked that any remembrances be made in his honor to the Make-A-Wish Foundation or www.stjude.org, both for the purpose of benefiting children.
