In Memoriam

May 30, 2023

The Parker family is sad to announce the loss of Edward H. Sibbald (1948–2023), retired BB&T Executive in Residence in Banking, director of the Center for Excellence in Financial Services, and lecturer of finance. Ed, who prior to coming to Georgia Southern had a distinguished career in banking, came to Georgia Southern in 2006 and immediately embraced his new career as an educator. He especially enjoyed connecting the banking community to his students and helping to support community financial institutions. Ed founded Georgia Southern’s annual Southeast Georgia Community Bank Symposium and extensively consulted with Central Ogeechee River Educators (CORE) Credit Union. According to Don Berecz, senior lecturer emeritus of accounting, Ed frequently provided helpful advice and direction.

After his 2016 retirement from Parker College, Ed, a lifelong baseball fan and baseball card collector enjoyed continuing his love of the game, visiting the beach, basking in the sun in a comfy chair, and spending time with Maria, his wife of 51 years; his daughter and son-in-law, Kristen and Joe, and their children, Maddie and Will; his son, Ed, Jr. and daughter-in-law, Charlotte, their children Sebastian and Malcolm; and his niece Donna, her husband, Tim, and their daughters, Brittany and Danielle.

Away from Georgia Southern, Ed and Don formed the “Illinois Club” and enjoyed gatherings after work hours involving random pools involving the Super Bowl and March Madness. Don fondly remembers that, after the New York Giants won Super Bowl XLII, Ed was upset even though he’d won the pool because he had wanted to witness “a perfect NFL regular season by the New England Patriots” just once in his lifetime. Don concluded, “We all will remember Ed as ‘perfect’ and will miss him in our hearts. His smile will never leaver our memories.”