Eddie T. Mckee

A funeral service celebrating the life of Eddie T. McKee, age 85, of Newark, will be held at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, November 14, at Criss Wagner Hoskinson Funeral Home with Dave Mason officiating.

Friends may call from 4-7 p.m. prior to the service at the funeral home, 179 Granville Street in Newark.

Eddie was born October 24, 1939 in Frazeysburg, Ohio to the late Hugh and Eunice Mae (Hoadley) McKee. He passed away unexpectedly on Friday, November 8, 2024 at Licking Memorial Hospital.

Eddie was a 1957 graduate of Newark High School and a 1961 graduate of Baldwin Wallace University, having played football and basketball in both high school and college. He retired in 1997 from the Ohio Department of Transportation where he was an Accountant. Eddie was an avid bicyclist and completed the Land of Legend 100, the 210-mile Tour of Scioto River Valley, the Hoot 100 in Lancaster, and biked across Ireland by himself for two weeks in his late 70’s. A man of all trades, Eddie was a wonderful woodworker, roofer, and refinisher of furniture. He gave his family beautiful items that he had refinished or built for them. He loved to help others and did repairs for his neighbors and family and always wanted to find a way to do things himself rather than hire it done. You couldn’t keep Eddie off a roof or a ladder or stop him from working with his tools. No task was too big or too small. Eddie was a member of the Newark and Columbus Ski Clubs, the Licking County Bike Club, the Land of Legend Fly Fisherman, and was a lifetime member of the YMCA. He hiked and biked all over the United States and completed the Appalachian Trail and the Underground Railroad Trail. He also loved scuba diving, whitewater rafting, and running. He took great pride in voluntarily maintaining the McKee Cemetery in Frazeysburg.

He will be greatly missed by his loving family including his children, Steve (Maribeth) McKee of Etna, Paula Drumm (Roy Whisner) of Heath, and Jon (Tara) McKee of Heath; grandchildren, Cierra McKee, Ariel (Brian) Helm, Tiffany (Justin) Rine, Travis (Fallon) Drumm, Tristan McKee, and Kanyon (Hollie) McKee; great-grandchildren, Kenzlie Rine, Olivia Rine, Emersyn Drumm, Ruby Drumm, and Miles Drumm; step-children, Theresa (Najib) Mahmood of Woodbridge, Virginia, and their children, Rashad and Idress, and Jeff (Lynn) Garrison of Zanesville, and their children, Seth and Jessie; brothers, Jim McKee and Larry (Linda) McKee, all of Newark; and several nieces and nephews.

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his wife, Mary Clare (Gonder) McKee; and by his son-in-law, Robin Drumm.

Criss Wagner Hoskinson Funeral Home is honored to care for Eddie and his family.