Edward Paul Kohler

In the words of Monty Python, Edward Paul Kohler is a dead person. He has ceased to be. He has kicked the bucket.  He is bereft of life.  He has wrung down the curtain and joined the choir invisible. He is no more.

He departed this life on December 19, 2024, at home in Sutter Creek, CA.

Born on April 24, 1951, to Charles (Chuck) and Margaret Kohler of Jackson, Ed was a lifelong resident of Amador County. He attended Milligan School on Clinton Road before graduating as the class President of Jackson Union High School in 1969.  In true ‘Ed fashion’, he ran a campaign under the platform “Vote for Me and I’ll Do Nothing”—a promise he fully realized, much to the chagrin of his fellow classmates.

Like every good aging hippie, Ed spent the 70’s living life to the fullest, avidly riding motorcycles and running amok.  It was during this time that he met Dawn Gibson, who would become his wife on August 1, 1981. Together, they raised three children: Kristin, Karl, and Kevin. 

After nearly two decades working at American Forest Products in Martell, Ed returned to school. He studied Natural Resources/Wildlife at San Joaquin Delta College before graduating in 1994 as a first-generation scholar with a B.S. in Fisheries Biology from Humboldt State University. He later worked for the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife before returning to Amador County.

Ed was an avid hunter and fisherman.  He also had a notoriously green thumb, growing everything from heirloom tomatoes, to hot Georgian garlic, to gigantic pumpkins.  His gifts of paper bags generously filled to the brim with vegetables will be sorely missed by his friends and family.

He excelled at telling ever-inappropriate jokes, knowing all of the local flora & fauna (including the Latin name WITH correct spelling), forever rocking the ultimate invisibility cloak– a Cabela’s camo jacket, and reading any history book he could get his hands on.  His knowledge of American wars was extensive, and we will all miss his insightful commentary of historical facts.

He loved animals-especially his numerous kitties, fishing trips to the Pacific Northwest, shrimp cooked ANY way, a good sci-fi film, sharing incredible pictures of distant nebulae, and keeping up with the local obituaries.

The family will gather for a private remembrance. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to A-PAL Humane Society in Ed’s memory.

Rest in peace, Ed. You may be gone, but your legacy of humor, pursuit of knowledge, and respect for nature will live on in the hearts of those who knew & loved you.