G. Edward Fielder, a former member of the Harford County Council and a retired public school teacher, died on Sunday. He was 73.
County Executive Barry Glassman has ordered the Harford County flag to be flown at half-staff in honor of Fielder. The county flag will remain at half-staff through sunset on Sunday, Aug. 23.
“Ed was devoted to public service in Harford County, and he will be greatly missed,” Glassman said in a statement. “Our sympathy and prayers go out to his family. May they find comfort, and may he rest in peace.”
Fielder named a Harford Living Treasure in 2019, the third generation of his family to receive the honor, which is conferred upon people who are at least 70 years old and have lived in Harford County for at least 40 years. His uncle and grandfather were also named Living Treasures.
The county council voted unanimously Nov. 19 in favor of Fielder’s nomination.
Fielder was born in Havre de Grace and grew up in Harford County, graduating from Bel Air High School and earning a degree in farm management and agricultural economics from Cornell University in New York, according to his obituary. He moved back home after college and worked with his father to develop a “state-of-the-art dairy farm,” according to the Living Treasure proclamation.
He served on the County Council from 1982 to 1990, and joined Harford County Public Schools in 1991 as a social studies teacher after he received his Masters Degree in Education from Towson University. Fielder taught at Harford Technical and C. Milton Wright high schools.
Ed Fielder and his wife, the late Kathy Fielder, both retired from HCPS. Kathy Fielder was a former media specialist and librarian at Churchville Elementary School. She died on Jan. 3.
After retirement, the two had started a canning company, Fielder’s Choice Delectables. They made jams, jellies and salsas from homegrown produce, and their products were sold in area supermarkets and the Bel Air Farmers Market.
Fielder is survived by his son, Christopher Allen Fielder and his wife, Erica; daughter, Jennifer Lynne Patterson and her husband, Brad; granddaughter, Riley Brooke Fielder; brother, James Fielder Jr.; two sisters, Grace Fielder and Edith Buckler; and many nieces and nephews.
In addition to his parents and wife, he was preceded in death by son, James Edward Fielder, who died Jan. 13.
The family has established the Fielder Family Scholarship Fund for Education at the Community Foundation of Harford County, in memory of Edward Fielder. Donations can be made by visiting the website and clicking donate now: www.cfharfordcounty.org
Donations can also be mailed, with a memo note for Fielder Scholarship to: Community Foundation of Harford County, P.O. Box 612, Bel Air, MD 21014.