Edward J. Komorous

Published 10:21 am Friday, March 14, 2025

Edward J. Komorous, 90, of Tryon, NC passed away December 23, 2004 in Mission Hospital in Asheville, NC of fall-related injuries.  A memorial service with military honors was held at Holy Cross Episcopal Church in Tryon on December 28th, officiated by the  rector, Rev. Robert  Ard.   

He is survived by his wife, Patricia Komorous; stepsons John and Curtis Cummings;, grandsons, John, Jr., Connor, and Jackson Cummings:  sister, Carole Lange and her six children and grandchildren, including Carole’s son, Edward Langwinski, and his wife ` Mag, and their children, Ashley and Noah, with whom Ed was particularly close.

He was preceded in death by his parents; his sister,r Marianne Hayes;  his brother, William; and his brother Georgie, who died in a tragic accident at age 3.

Ed’s family was of Bohemian extraction, and lived in an ethnic community in the Pilsen area of Chicago, Illinois, spending cherished summers at a rustic lake resort for Bohemian families. For seven years the family resided at the  Illinois Industrial Home for the Blind, where Ed’s father was superintendent.  Ed graduated from Farragut  High School and DePaul University and attended Chicago Law School for two years before serving in the US Army in Wiesbaden, Germany.  He became a career federal employee, initially as an investigator in  Chicago, and then as a personnel expert and manager in Washington, DC in the Civil Service Commission (later the Office of Personnel Management).  In retirement in Montgomery County, MD,  he enjoyed working as a substitute elementary school teacher and became active in local politics.

After moving to Polk County, NC in 2004,  he joined the  Kiwanis Club, serving on their Executive Board for several terms, and working with their Terrific Kids Program.  In his later years, as his health declined,  he lost most of his vision  and spent his last 3 years of his life in various care facilities. Throughout those last years, he and Pat still saw each other almost daily and remained very close until his passing.

Ed will be remembered by all who knew him as a really good guy with a wonderfully dry, sometimes pointed, sense of humor and a curmudgeon streak that belied his usually kind-hearted,  reasonable nature.