Edward Joseph Fern

Edward (Ed) Fern

Born January 8, 1945, in Kansas City, MO

Died May 29, 2026, in Mission Viejo, CA

Ed was born in Kansas City in 1945 and grew up in the Waldo neighborhood. He held a wide variety of jobs, starting as a pin setter in a bowling alley at age 15. After attending college at St. Mary’s in Winona, Minnesota, and the University of Nebraska, he returned to Kansas City. His career began at United Computing Systems as a computer operator and progressed to a management position. After that company was sold, Ed moved to California to work for TRW and later Infonet. He then founded his own company, Time-to-Profit. He was the author of ‘Time-to-Profit Project Management: A Primer for Project Managers in Commercial Project Development,’ and taught seminars and provided consulting services for project managers across the globe.Ed wanted all his friends to know how much they meant to him and how much he cherished their friendship. He was known for his love of jokes — whatever the topic or occasion, Ed had one ready. There were always a lot of laughs when Ed was around, and he had a gift for making everyone smile.

Ed generously donated his brain to be used in research by the UCI Institute for Memory Impairmentsand Neurological Disorders.

He is survived by his wife Cindy, his sons, Garrett and Spencer, and numerous Fern, Ost, and Bartlow relatives.

Donations in Ed’s memory:

~UCI Retirees Association Legacy Scholarship:

https://secure.give.uci.edu/donation/?COA1=005071&COA2 

~Nature Conservancy:

https://www.nature.org/en-us/ 

~Nova Ukraine:

https://novaukraine.org/