Edwin Arthur Hollatz Jr. made his debut on the stage of God's earth May 31, 1930, in Chicago IL to parents Edwin Arthur Hollatz Sr., and Charlotte (Potter) Hollatz.  One of his earliest memories around age 2 was of his parents having family devotions next to his crib before going to bed at night.  Ed's love of the Lord and the study of God's Word is something that shaped him throughout his entire life.

It is no surprise that a 4-year-old who liked to pretend he was Dr. Ironside, preaching to imaginary congregants in his boyhood teepee, became a college professor who taught preaching and homiletics to others.  Ed knew he was a vessel for God's work and that the power of public speaking was key in helping the Word to become flesh - tangible and alive in the lives of the Wheaton College students he taught and led for 45 years.

Since childhood, his unique boyhood interests (opera, natural history, magic) laid the groundwork in shaping his curious mind and insatiable hunger for knowledge.  A true "sponge for knowledge," Ed's interests were both deep and broad, culminating in a personal library of thousands of books across many topics.  From chemistry to The Classics, from Biblical archeology to Bach, and from planetary science to playwrights, his books filled every square inch of the walls of his office, be it at Wheaton College or at home.

Edwin grew up in Chicago and then the family moved to Detroit when Ed's father took a new job.  Ed graduated from Thomas Cooley High School Detroit in 1948.  From there he went to Bob Jones University, which was at that time the premier Christian program for the study of radio production and English Bible.  After graduating from Bob Jones, Ed attended Wheaton College, earning his graduate degree in Bible and theology in 1955.  Ed began teaching at Wheaton College while pursuing a second master's degree in radio and television at Northwestern University. He also received his PhD in rhetoric and public address and speech pedagogy from Northwestern in 1965, finishing his dissertation just before the birth of his second daughter Celia. After that, he was hired as tenure-track faculty at Wheaton College and never looked back. Of note, Ed started Wheaton's debate program (leading the students to national championships), the theater program which has now been going strong for 50+ years and was responsible for the growth of WETN from a glorified PA announcement system on campus to a full-licensed radio station.

Throughout his professional life, Ed's rigorous mind complemented his enormous heart.  For him, a life of the mind was fully embedded with what it means to live as a Christian.  He once wrote, "the academic thoroughness of Wheaton has shown me beyond a shadow of a doubt that a Christian can and should be on par intellectually with the modern world.  I believe that Christianity and ignorance are incompatible."

In 1959 Ed met the love of his life, Joanne Simon, who was also a new faculty member at Wheaton College.  They were married at College Church in 1960 and recently celebrated 63 years of marriage together. Joanne faithfully became Ed's primary caregiver during his health challenges, starting with a myasthenia gravis diagnosis in 2014.

For almost 60 years, Ed was an active member of College Church. He gave of his time and talents in both music and leadership: he sang in the choir, was chairman of the music committee, led songs during evening services, chaired the organ and the constitution revision committees, and served as president of Keenagers.  For Ed, music was worship and worship was music and he could sing any hymn and stanza up until the final weeks of his life.

Ed was called home to be with his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, on December 2, 2023  This was a homecoming he had been looking forward to his entire life.  The great "hope that is within us" has now been made complete for him.

Ed is survived by his beloved wife, Joanne, his two daughters and their spouses (Celia & Chad Bergman; Cheryl Hollatz & Kate Gray), and his three grandchildren: Kendra Wisely (along with her father Andrew Wisely), Karina Bergman and Anderson Bergman, as well as his brother Richard Hollatz of Holland, Michigan.

Please join the family to honor Ed during visitation at Hultgren Funeral Home on Sunday December 10, 3-7 pm or Monday December 11, 10am – noon.  A memorial service to honor Ed's life will be held at the First Presbyterian Church of Wheaton on Monday, January 22, 2024 at 1:00 p.m. The service will be livestreamed beginning at 1:00 p.m. CST through this link: Memorial Service for Edwin Hollatz .

In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Edwin Hollatz can be made to  either: the Edwin A. Hollatz Endowed Scholarship at Wheaton College. Donations by check may be made out to Wheaton College and sent to Advancement Services, 501 College Avenue, Wheaton, IL 60187, or to the general missions fund at College Church, 332 E Seminary Avenue, Wheaton, IL 60187. For either memorial gift, please kindly note on the memo line that the gift is in memory of Edwin Hollatz.