September 24, 1948 - May 25, 2023
Edward Hamilton Sibbald passed away at age 74 on May 25th, 2023, in Savannah, Georgia. An avid life-long baseball fan and baseball card collector, Ed was always drawn to the beach, the ocean, or even just a comfy lawn chair in the sun. At the time of his passing, Ed was surrounded by his loving family. He was born on September 24th, 1948, in New York City, NY to Frederick and Helene (nee Schilling) Sibbald.
Ed worked as a soda jerk making malts and egg creams at Phil and Jack’s Candy Store in the Bronx from high school into college. He met Maria Sicignano through a friend in his Italian class at Fordham University their freshman year. After taking Maria to the Homecoming weekend dance, the two were together through the rest of college and celebrated 51 years of marriage in March 2023.
After graduating from Fordham with a degree in Political Science, Ed earned a Masters in International Affairs from Columbia University. He then began a distinguished career in banking starting at Chase Manhattan Bank where he was the youngest vice president in the company’s history. During this time, his daughter Kristen and Ed Jr. were born. The family moved to Dunwoody, GA in 1981. Ed took great pride in his work as Chief Credit Officer at CONTEL, and he was among the first banking professionals to put together a financing deal to launch a private communications satellite.
In 1992, the family moved to Wheaton, IL with Ed taking a job at Midwest Bank and Trust. As the CFO, CMO and Executive Vice President of Retail Banking, he enjoyed creating ways to celebrate the employees and customers of the bank while taking the bank public in 1998. Ed also served on the board of directors at Midwest Bank of Western Illinois bank in Monmouth, IL.
In 2006, Ed and Maria moved to Statesboro, GA. They enjoyed living close to Kristen and son-in-law Joe, then witnessed the birth of their grandchildren Maddie and Will. In Statesboro, Ed served as the BB&T (now Truist) Distinguished Chair in Banking, Director of the Center for Excellence in Financial Services and Lecturer of Finance at Georgia Southern University until his retirement in 2016. In those roles, Ed embraced his career as a teacher and realized a new passion. He enjoyed his role connecting the banking community to the students and helping to support community financial institutions through Georgia Southern’s Annual Bank Symposium and extensive consulting work with Central Ogeechee River Educators (CORE) Credit Union. Ed enjoyed pouring over numbers and offering his input on the competition, the state of the economy and CORE’s asset-liability management program.
Ed was preceded in death by his parents, his sister Inez Hoos and his niece Pamela Barnes. He is survived by his wife, Maria, his children Kristen (Joseph) Ruhland of Statesboro, Edward (Charlotte Phillips) Sibbald of Richmond, Vermont, grandchildren Madeline Ruhland, William Ruhland, Sebastian Sibbald, Malcolm Sibbald, niece Donna (Tim) Little of Georgetown, Texas, and great-nieces Brittany and Danielle.
The family would like to extend their thanks to the physicians and staff of Memorial Hospital in Savannah for their heartfelt care and support of Ed and his family.
A Celebration of Life will be held Saturday, July 8, 2023, at 2:00 p.m. in the chapel of Joiner-Anderson Funeral Home in Statesboro.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Fixing the Boro, a spay/neuter clinic in Statesboro, GA, or St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Friends may sign the online register book at www.joineranderson.com
Joiner-Anderson Funeral Home & Crematory of Statesboro is in charge of the arrangements.
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