James "Baby Jim" Richard Edson III's Obituary
James “Baby Jimmy” Richard Edson III died on the 3 February 2026 after a moderate hospitalization. He was 82 years old, born in 1943 to parents James “Big Jim” Richard Edson Jr. and Mary Evelyn Edson in New Hampshire.
Jim is survived by his loving wife of 57 years, Evangeline “Vangie” Edson of Culpeper, Va and his son James “Rowdy” Richard Edson IV and wife Ariel Edson of Haymarket, Va. He was a very proud grandpa to Ella, Lucas and Maya Edson and uncle to dozens of nieces and nephews across the Edson and Valdez families.
Jim completed two tours in Vietnam as a member of the United States Marine Corps, later serving over two decades in the Army National Guard. In addition to his military time, he was a proud Federal Employee working with the Army Air Force Exchange Services (AAFES) for three decades including time overseas in the Middle East supporting the troops during Desert Shield and Desert Storm. He received an Associates Degree from Georgia Military College and was a subject matter expert on wireless networking focused on engineering retail wireless solutions for national retailers during his post-AAFES employment at Telxon/Symbol Technologies.
In addition to his military and federal services, he served the local community in Othello, Washington as a volunteer fire fighter upon his return from Vietnam. His hobbies included motorsports, music and cooking.
In the 1960s, he enjoyed racing stock cars in Othello, Washington later moving towards off-roading adventures while being one of the early founders and Presidents of the Texas Rovers group for Land Rover enthusiast in the 1990s. He and his wife Vangie completed over 200k miles of adventure across Texas, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah always accompanied by their beloved 15 foot camper trailer. His love of music, specifically the blues, showed in his passion for guitar. He could be found Saturdays taking dobro lessons and enjoying the community of Culpeper Music Center. Since 2020, he completed assembling over a dozen guitars kits, gifting them to his son, grandchildren and nieces and nephews.
Jim enjoyed cooking all his life, especially his time in the National Guard as a Mess Sargent and during his retirement where he could enjoy the slow artistry of bbq. He enjoyed growing his own vegetables on his deck garden with his grandchildren, especially his over abundance of tomatoes and peppers.
He was the greatest husband, father, father-in-law, grandparent, and uncle that you could have asked for. His grandchildren will remember his love of Japanese animation and pickling peppers forever.
A graveside service will be held at Culpeper National Cemetery, 501 E. Chandler Street, Culpeper, VA, Monday, March 9, 2026 at 11:00 a.m.
An online guestbook and tribute wall are available at https://www.foundandsons.com
Found and Sons Funeral Chapel of Culpeper is serving the family.
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