Edward M. Guild Jr.

Lt. Col. (Ret’d.) Edward M. Guild, Jr. (Ned) of Hingham, MA has died of Covid Pneumonia and complications of Parkinson’s while fighting his third bout with cancer in ten years.

Ned served his country as a pilot in the U.S. Air Force, flying Caribous and C-130s during two tours of duty in Vietnam. Among his numerous critical missions in the region were transporting in and out of Phnom Penh, Cambodia when it was under threat from the Khmer Rouge and flying the peacekeeping team during their mission in Vietnam. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.

After returning from Vietnam, Ned joined the Rhode Island Air National Guard from which he received an honorable discharge after twenty-two years in the military.

While with the Rhode Island Air National Guard, at age forty-six, Ned was reabsorbed back into the Air Force full time for Desert Storm due to his leadership, combat experience, and ability to mentor the young recruits in their first war. (His co-pilot was twenty-two.)

After Desert Storm and before returning home, Ned flew special missions including one in support of the Space Shuttle.

Known for his quick wit and dry sense of humor, Ned’s summaries of his war experiences were, “It’s nice to win one” and “They only kept me in the military to make the enemy over-confident.”

Ned grew up in Hingham, MA and was a graduate of Derby Academy, Milton Academy, Lake Forest College, and Suffolk University where he earned an MBA after returning from Vietnam.

He settled in Cohasset but later moved back to Hingham, a town he loved. He worked in the international shipping business, in finance at Putnam Investments and other institutions, and later in life became a small business owner as a master distributor of European gourmet food.

Husband of Alexandra (Evans), father of Andrew and Benjamin, son of Edward, Sr. (Ted) and Juliette (Julie), brother of Thomas, Warner, and Juliette Reid, uncle to many nieces and nephews.

Ned could build or repair anything. He loved playing hockey and rugby and passed on his enthusiasm for sports by coaching his children’s various teams. He spoke several languages, was able to imitate  assorted accents as well as the voices of numerous cartoon characters perfectly, which surprised and delighted little children and the Disney characters at Disney World themselves!

He played multiple musical instruments including bass guitar for the Dionysians on Nantucket and for the ten piece band The Soul Syndicate in Chicago in the late 1960’s, opening for groups like The Association, The Turtles, and The Buckinghams, etc.

He loved trains, built ship models, and was a past Captain of the U.S.S. Constitution Model Shipwright Guild. (The air would be blue with profanity when he was rigging his ship models. Ned would shout, “Alex! Take the children and leave me!”)

His energy, optimism, and sensational sense of humor will be missed by all who knew him.

Ned’s family would like to express their profound sense of gratitude to the extraordinary physicians who cared for him and gave us all of the extra years together we never would have had without their expertise and compassion: Dr. Richard Swanson, Dr. Chandrajit Raut, Dr. Thomas Abrams, Dr. Kunal Jajoo, Dr. Richard Krolewski, and Dr. Khang Vinh Nguyen.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a gift in honor of Ned to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, 450 Brookline Avenue, Boston, MA 02215-5450.

A Memorial Service will be held on Saturday, April 13th at 2 PM, Old Ship Meeting House, Hingham, MA, for Ned’s family and friends.

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