Edward Anthony Smolsky

Edward Anthony Smolsky, age 83, of Battle Creek, passed away on Thursday, September 29, 2022.

Edward was born on November 5, 1938, to the late Anthony & Sophie (Zackrzewski) Smolsky in Gary, Indiana. He grew up as a migrant farm worker, traveling around with his family (parents and surviving older brother, Charles, 85) from farm to farm in California, Oregon, and Washington. As an adult, Edward pursued computers as a career, eventually graduating with a Masters in Computer Science from Western Michigan University in 1975. He would often proudly tell friends and family that "he worked on the first computer ever built."

While Edward enjoyed learning about the "new" technologies, his real love in life was his family. Edward married his first wife, Lilah (Schray), in 1962, and together they had Karen Marie, who passed away as an infant, and Laura (Derreck) Anderson. Lila tragically died from a heart attack in 1976. Edward later married his surviving wife of 44 years, Marilyn, and together they had two children, Sara (Michael) Farnworth and Debra (Michael) Dozeman. Edward was also "Dad" to many others whom he treated as his own, including Camla Seegers, Russ (Sandy) Gibson and their families.

Edward will be missed by all his family and friends. Family will receive friends from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, October 4, 2022 at Farley Estes Dowdle Funeral Cremation Preneed Care, 105 Capital Avenue, NE, Battle Creek, MI 49017. A private burial will follow at a later date. Personal messages for the family may be placed here at www.farleyestesdowdle.com