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Bayside funeral director dies following long battle with illness

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Courtesy of Marissa Jamie

He fought cancer valiantly for more than two decades, but on the eve of a new round of chemotherapy was about to begin, Edward D. Jamie Jr. lost his battle due to complications, according to his family. He was 76.

Jamie was the second generation funeral director in his family following in his father’s footsteps and he operated the Edward D. Jamie Jr. Funeral Chapel on Northern Boulevard in Bayside since 1969. His daughter Marissa Jamie is studying for her funeral director’s license, and she, like her father, will take over the family business.

“I worked with him since I was 13 and I will make sure his legacy will carry on,” Marissa Jamie said. “Everyone loved my father. He was a pillar in the Armenian community. Anyone who needed help he was there no matter what time of day or how far he had to travel. We will keep the funeral home and we will run it the way he always wanted it run.”

Her brother Christopher passed away in 2001, when Christopher was attending funeral directing school.

“My father got an honorable discharge from the U.S. Army and took over my grandfather’s funeral home in Elmhurst and now it’s my time to do the same,” Marissa Jamie said. “Because of him, I know how important it is to be a funeral director and it’s very important to me to keep everything he believed in alive.”

Edward D. Jamie Jr. knew compassion, service and dedication to those in need and would often go to a decedent’s home to meet with the family to make all of the arrangements and ease the emotional burden of making the final arrangements for a loved one. He also knew that price and budgeting are also important decisions in planning a direct burial, cremation or full services.

“These things were very important to my father and they are also very important to me as well,” Marissa Jamie said.

Jamie Jr. is survived by his wife Lynn. They were married in 1969.

He will be laid to rest next to his son on May 12 at Nassau Knolls Cemetery.