Edward Koshnick

Edward Walter Koshnick was born in Kingston, Pennsylvania on November 17, 1929, the first child of Walter William Koshnick and Anna Cecilia Alexis. He was baptized in St. Mary’s Lithuanian Roman Catholic Church in Kingston and attended GAR High School in Wilkes-Barre, graduating first in his class in 1947. Upon graduation, Edward enlisted in the U.S. Army, serving as a radio operator in Ft. Monmouth, New Jersey before spending two years in Asmara, Eritrea. When the Korean War broke out, Edward was activated from the reserves on his first day of college at Wilkes University in 1950. He achieved the highest score ever at that time on the Army Language Exam, choosing to study Arabic at the Army Language School in Monterey, California. During his return to the active military he also served at the Arlington Hall Station, where he subsequently returned as a civilian employee of the Armed Forces Security Agency from 1952 to 1954. Edward returned to Wilkes-Barre to complete a degree in mathematics in 1958, where he again graduated first in his class. During his time in his hometown, he met his future wife of 57 years, Ann Dolores Novak, whom he married on September 12, 1959 in Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, after serving another year in Asmara, Eritrea. The couple soon after moved to Laurel, Maryland, so that Edward could work as an analyst for the Armed Forces Security Agency at Ft. Meade, which became the National Security Agency. By the time Edward retired in February 1985, he had become a senior executive and returned as a part-time annuitant for eight more years. In addition to his beloved wife, Ann, Edward is survived by his children Ruth Ann Besse and Ian Koshnick, and his grandchildren, Edward Koshnick Besse and Samuel Joseph Besse.

Relatives and friends are invited to visit on Tuesday, September 27 from 2-4 and 7-9 pm at the Donaldson Funeral Home, P.A., 313 Talbott Ave., Laurel, MD 20707, where a funeral service will be held in the funeral home’s chapel on Wednesday at 10. Interment with military honors will follow at the Gate of Heaven Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to St. Mary of the Mills School for a scholarship for third grade students. For fourteen years (1996-2010), Edward volunteered as a math and reading tutor for students in Mrs. Peggy Walsh’s third grade class.    

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