Ed Mytych tribute

With the heaviest of hearts we say goodbye to our dearest friend and fellow Mapper, Ed Mytych.

September 28, 1950 ~ April 30, 2026 (75)

Ed was a giant in the ALS space who made an enormous impact on getting the ALS community closer to a treatment and quality care. We are so humbled and honored that we got to call Ed “friend” and work with him on GeoALS projects.

We don’t even know where to start when it comes to acknowledging Ed’s great acts and strong moral character. From fundraising and working for good causes throughout his life (inside the ALS space and outside as well) to cleverly priortizing his daily energy to get the biggest bang for the buck to help others, Ed was steadfast in his faith, seeing the best in people, and working to help those in need.

But possibly Ed’s most giving quality was how he was willing to drop everything to help someone else. Ed could’ve been in the middle of the worst part of the battle of ALS, but he would still answer a call or help crunch data and not let anyone know that he was struggling. All of the big success stories of GeoALS directly involve Ed’s brilliant technical work, solution design skills, general guidance, and that willingness to drop everything to help a friend or a good cause.

To hear more about Ed’s invaluable contributions to GeoALS, see the May briefing video.

To steal from Ed’s obituary his favorite quote, which illustrates well the depths of his generosity and kindness, “When you find yourself blessed more than others, build a longer table, not a taller fence."

You can pay tribute to Ed by donating to his Hershey ALS United Walk Team: Alienate ALS, which takes place June 6: https://secure.alsmidatlantic.org/site/TR/Endurance/General?pg=personal&px=1159157&fr_id=1312

We leave you with a beautiful song Ed composed that closed out the HH Avatars and Voices symposium he organized.