Sometimes here on the Forum I will see posts from a member over time, maybe even exchange PM’s with the member and then it is like they just drop off the face of the earth. Last night I thought about such a guy because he was a contributor here on the Forum, shared similar interests with me and had bought a couple of guns from my collection. I had not heard from him or seen any posts from him on the Forum for a long time so I did a little research and found he had passed away. His name was Gerald Edson and his handle on the Forum was “Deluxe 76”. Gerald was from Terre Haute, Indiana – he died in November of 2020 at the age of 77. His last post here on the Forum was in late August of 2020, just 3 months before he died. Some of you may already know this but if not I thought I would pass it on.

Gerald had a lot of nice guns and had been collecting over 50 years. He also had guns that were not right but he would openly admit it and if masterfully re-done be a proud owner. Gerald was one of those guys that would see a photo of a gun that I would post on the Forum and would send me a PM and ask if I would sell it – he was not bashful and money was not a concern! He once told me he had over 200 Winchesters. In looking at some of his old posts here on the Forum I found one where he talked about his 200+ collection and was concerned about what to do with them as he was aging – just aging, no talk of impending doom. Gerald had no sons and only one daughter – the plan for his guns had been to have the son-in-law, who also had a keen interest in the guns, inherit them. This plan did not work out as the son-in-law died from cancer before Gerald died. One of Gerald’s last posts here on the Forum was seeking advice for the best way to get rid of so many guns. I have no idea what may have happened to them but they may well have gone to auction.

This brings up a topic which has been discussed here on the Forum previously regarding what to do with guns when we start to approach life expectancy. Each of us, whether we have a large collection or just a few guns need to make that decision for ourselves because we all have different circumstances. Just yesterday, I had a phone conversation with Bert Hartman and one of the things we talked about was my decision to downsize and that I was very pleased the vast majority of my guns went to WACA members who will collect the guns and not just try to turn a quick profit on them. I have kept an outstanding example of each model lever made in the 19th century because I still have a keen interest in them – that seems to be fulfilling my need. We are all just temporary caretakers.