This morning, Sunday, December 28, Ed Feldmanis passed at his home in the GreenRise Intentional Community, Chicago. Ed was a long-time OE and ICA staff member, a communitarian at GreenRise, and, more recently, a dedicated volunteer with the ICA Archives program. He also was a strongly committed member of an active, and long-standing, men’s group in the greater Chicago area. Grace and Peace,
~~ Terry Bergdall
Dear friends, I am so sorry to read of the death of Ed. I did not know his birth name of Atis. Over the years we corresponded on many topics I remember one such was his own family story and how he came from Latvia. I have Latvian friends here so like Jo, I think we bonded over that connection . He will be deeply missed from The Greenrise Community and all his many friends within his networks .
~~ Isobel Bishop
What a sweet, kind, and perceptive man. When in the Houston house and a fire broke out upstairs, Atis was on EG in a separate room. I ran in to alert him and later he said, “Your voice sounded like there was a fire in a waistbasket, but when you picked up 2 of the 10 kids and ran out, i knew it was something big!” And it was. In my visits to Chicago over the years, he was always a welcoming presence and a joy to converse with. Journey on with all our preceding Blue Shirts.
~~ Sunny Walker
When the Knutsons interned in the Cleveland House in 1969, the Feldmanis family was there also. Atis and his wife had a sweet baby daughter that year. We had a lot of children in that house and had really great EG structures. Whenever I was on a team with Atis I knew the kids were going to have a fun time and experiencial learning. Journey on, Atis.
~~ Joan Knutson
Oh this is indeed sad news. I met Ed more recent than maybe most of you when I came to Chicago for ICA Board meetings. He told me his name and I told him it’s a name of a delicious medicinal fruit in the Philippines. That’s how we bonded. I sent him pictures of “atis” and one time I was able to get some real fruits and we enjoyed eating it together. May he rest in peace.
~~ Elsa Batica
What? Oh dear. Very sad news. Ed rather saved my sanity the first summer in Hai Ou. While he and others had Hepatitis, I was trying to carry on. When I was a kid near Seattle, we had Latvian refugee neighbors. Ed and I bonded over that connection. He will be missed
~~ Pat Druckenmiller
Oh, no! It’s sad to hear this. I originally met Ed in 1970/71 when he visited the DC House. His name was really Atis Feldmanis, and he had Latvian heritage — maybe was born there. In 1970 I remember he was very careful not to tell strangers he was Latvian. I think this was from his family’s fear after WW2. Recently he told me his mother pronounced it “Atti”, and he really appreciated it when I called him Atis.
~~ Jo Nelson
