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The Life of Edwin Walker Semans Jr.

SEMANS EDWIN WALKER SEMANS, JR Edwin Walker Semans, Jr., 82, a retired official of the Social Security Administration, died suddenly from pneumonia on Monday, April 13, 2015, at Sibley Hospital. He lost his beloved wife, Mary Lou Koller Semans on March 6. They began dating at fourteen years old, and were married in 1956. Mr. Semans, known as Ed, lived in Sumner (Bethesda), Maryland. He was born and grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As a child, he contracted polio, but made a full recovery, becoming an accomplished high school athlete. After attending the Lawrenceville School, he graduated magna cum laude from Princeton University. His senior thesis, The Milford Incident, a case study of school integration, was later used by the University of Delaware. Ed received his law degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1958, and passed the Pennsylvania Bar Exam the same year. He began his career with the Social Security Administration in 1958 as a disability claims examiner in Baltimore, MD. In 1961, he transferred to the Office of Hearings and Appeals in Washington as an analyst. In Baltimore, his children Linda Koller Semans and Edwin Walker Semans, III, were born. The family moved to the Wood Acres neighborhood in Bethesda in 1963, where he became the President of the PTA at Wood Acres Elementary School. Ed was promoted to Section Chief in 1966 and then to Assistant Bureau Director in 1968. Shortly thereafter, he became the Director, Office of Appeals Operations, responsible for the administrative processing of claims for the Appeals Council of Social Security and, those subsequently appealed to the federal courts. During the time he held this position, he received three citations for Extraordinary Public Service, the Equal Opportunity Achievement Award, and several Sustained Superior Service awards. He retired from this position in 1987. In retirement, Ed focused his considerable management skills on his vegetable garden, issuing meticulous crop reports. His golf game, which began when he played on both the Lawrenceville and Princeton teams, and as a scratch player at Merion Golf Club in Philadelphia, required notes on swing and hand grips, updated daily after a round at The Kenwood Country Club. A dedicated fisherman, Ed detailed weather conditions, lures used, types of fish landed and secret locations for his fishing expeditions near Lock 13 on the Potomac River. He was fond of complicated French recipes, especially as presented by Julia Child. He preferred ones that had extensive preparation and then long periods of low simmering, that might coincide exactly with the timing of The Game on Sundays. Since their honeymoon, Ed and Mary Lou took the family on annual fishing trips to The Thousand Islands in Ontario, where they rented a cottage and then a houseboat, to reach out of the way fishing spots along the St. Lawrence River. In his Sears Roebuck aluminum row boat with a trusty Evinrude motor, Ed threw cast after cast in his pursuit of Bass, Northern Pike and "The Elusive Muskellunge". He proudly displayed his trophies from Opening of the Season Competitions, sponsored by Labatt's Beer. Later, Ed and Mary Lou spent many weekends on their 28 foot Slickcraft, Snapper, at Point Lookout, Maryland, where they fished the waters of the Chesapeake Bay. Always in tow were their black and white, English Springer Spaniels, Jenny and Betsy. While no fan of small talk, Ed's lively intellect and dry sense of humor was well-known to family, friends and countless checkout clerks throughout the metropolitan area. Ed Semans is survived by his daughter Linda Semans Donovan, son-in-law John Donovan and granddaughter Hope Semans Donovan of McLean, Virginia; and his son Edwin Walker Semans, III, and grandsons Cole and Walker Semans of Annapolis, Maryland. Ed and Mary Lou Semans will be celebrated at a memorial service at the Washington National Cathedral on Saturday, April 18th, at 10 a.m. A reception will follow at Hearst Hall. In lieu of flowers, the family request that contributions be made to Chesapeake Bay Foundation, 6 Hampden Avenue, Annapolis, MD, 21403 or through CBF.org.; or to the Send a Kid to Camp Campaign c/o Family Matters of Greater Washington, 1509 16th Street, NW, Washington DC, 20036 or through familymatters.dc.org.Ed and Mary Lou Semans will be celebrated at a memorial service at the Washington National Cathedral on Saturday, April 18th, at 10 a.m. A reception will follow at Hearst Hall. In lieu of flowers, the family request that contributions be made to Chesapeake Bay Foundation, 6 Hampden Avenue, Annapolis, MD, 21403 or through CBF.org.; or to the Send a Kid to Camp Campaign c/o Family Matters of Greater Washington, 1509 16th Street, NW, Washington DC, 20036 or through familymatters.dc.org.

Published in The Washington Post from Apr. 16 to Apr. 18, 2015

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