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Edward K. Baldwin, age 78, of Hillsborough, CA passed away on January 10th, 2019 at Kaiser - Santa Clara. “Big Ed” was an adored and treasured husband, father, Papa, and most recently, a great-Papa.

He leaves his beloved wife of 53 years, Donna Marie Baldwin; his daughter Erin Baldwin Osai and her children; and his son Edward, daughter-in-law Melanie Tan, and their children.

Ed was born in Livingston Manor, NY, the fourth of five children, to Charles and Marjorie Baldwin and enlisted in the Air Force upon graduation from Livingston Manor High School. He served in Frankfurt, Germany, aiding East German and Russian defectors (he had interesting stories of his time there, spies included). After returning home, he was highly encouraged by his parents to strike out on his own. He considered his options and decided to move in with his sister Barbara in New York City. He worked his way up to become a Ramp Manager with TWA, where he met the love of his life, Donna Marie Dallison.

He greatly enjoyed his flight benefits at TWA, often flying in and out for day trips to catch baseball games. In search of even more adventure and golden opportunities, Ed and Donna Marie headed out west to California with their toddler, Erin, in tow. Their son, Edward II, was born a few months later. With a leap of faith, Ed and Donna Marie took a chance on a major career change and became Realtors in 1976. Ed has been a Broker/Realtor since then and founded Baldwin Real Estate. He is known up and down the Peninsula and greater Bay Area for his extreme punctuality, rock-solid dependability and a sometimes introverted personality that hid a pure and generous spirit. He also had a deep and abiding love of Costco party trays, which brightened his Realtor tour days.

When his beloved Dodgers left New York for Los Angeles, he was inconsolable. He took his move to Northern California as an opportunity to hitch his heart to a new team. Lingering Dodger loyalties prevented him from supporting the hated Giants. Luckily for him, the Oakland A’s were but a short drive across the Bay. Ever generous with his season tickets, he shared his love of the A’s and baseball with family, friends and clients. We are grateful for the many memorable times at the ballpark spent with him. He was a season ticket holder for 40 years with the Green and Gold. A highlight of his life was throwing out the first pitch for his birthday in 2012 with his grandson by his side.

As a brother/brother-in-law, he was always there for family. He would drop everything at a moment’s notice to lend a helping hand. As a husband, he made sure to show his devotion and love for Donna Marie with random hugs. They declared their love for each other every day, in words and in action (something that they both recommend to everyone to ensure that there are no regrets). As a father, he coached countless soccer, baseball and softball teams for Erin and Ed II. As a Papa, he was always front and center with his camera, cheering on his grandkids from Little League to dance recitals to elementary school plays to club, varsity, and collegiate sports. He was immensely proud of them and weathered the most inhospitable conditions just to watch their games. Despite some recent foot troubles, he showed up every Halloween, ready to

stumble in the dark and dodge traffic for hours just to share in the kids’ delight in getting free candy from strangers.

For the last 25 years, Ed and Donna Marie have hosted a Christmas fantasy in their home. They move out furniture around September/October and move in Christmas. Big Ed’s twinkling blue eyes and boisterous laugh have welcomed hundreds and hundreds of families over the years, helping to support Toys for Tots and the Wounded Warrior Project, as he shared his love of trains and the movie, “A Christmas Story,” along with Donna Marie’s love of nutcrackers, snowy villages and everything glittery in between. As a part of that tradition and their love of this special season, Ed hand-delivered thousands of nutcrackers to family and friends. Now those soldiers will do their duty and carry on his legacy of making the Christmas season special. His twinkle will live on.

We are eternally grateful to the dedicated and expert staff at the Kaiser Permanentes in Redwood City and Santa Clara for their relentless fight to keep him with us. They put everything they had into keeping him going, just like Ed did for everyone he loved.

He was welcomed to the afterlife by his parents, sister Barbara (Michael), brothers Charles II and John, and grandson, Eplahame. He is loved and missed by his wife, children, and grandchildren Alyssa (Pontus), Kali, Rosemarie, Marc, Annika, and Kyle, who will share his deep devotion to family and his love of trains, jokes, punctuality and adventure with his newborn great-granddaughter, Moana. He is also survived by his baby brother, Steve (Eleanor), sisters-in-law Jeannine and Maureen (Bill), and a whole tribe of in-laws, cousins, nieces, nephews and all those whose lives he touched.

A prayer service will be held on Wednesday, January 15th, at Skylawn Memorial Park at 10:30 AM. A reception at the home of the Baldwin Winter Wonderland will follow immediately after.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Wounded Warrior Project.

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Obituary for Edward Baldwin