Edgar Merrow Raffensperger was a professor of entomology at Cornell University. He was born in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania in 1926, the son of George and Catharine (Merrow) Raffensperger and brother of Ann and George, Jr. He was in the boy scouts, played bass in a jazz combo, and graduated from Gettysburg High School in 1944. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II and spent a year in naval hospitals in San Francisco and Dublin, Georgia. After his military service he attended Gettysburg College, transferring to Pennsylvania State University where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1951 and a master's degree in 1952. He earned his doctoral degree from the University of Wisconsin in 1955. He married Shirley on September 12, 1953 in State College, Pennsylvania, where they had met as students.

He served on the faculty at Virginia Polytechnic Institute from 1955 to 1961 in Blacksburg, Virginia. Their first son Andrew was born there in 1959. In 1961 the family moved to Ithaca, New York, where Ed had accepted a position as associate professor of entomology at Cornell University. Shortly after that, daughter Catharine was born. In 1964 their son Tom was born and in 1969 the family went to Norway, where Ed taught at the Agricultural College at Ås. He returned to Cornell where he helped found Cornell's Insect and Plant Disease Diagnostic Laboratory in 1971. Ed was promoted to full professor at Cornell in 1977. Ed's fame went far beyond Cornell, and he appeared on "Late Night with David Letterman" on April 27, 1982, discussing insects as a food source. Yes, he got David Letterman to eat a bug on TV. He also appeared in the New York Times, Omni Magazine, and even Sports Illustrated. In 1986 he spent nearly a year teaching integrated pest management at Egerton College in Njoro, Kenya.

Ed was an avid hunter and fisherman. He loved using his entomological skills to tie exquisitely detailed and highly effective flies, which he used to great success on the Beaverkill, Pine Creek, and anywhere else he found some extra time. He and the men in the extended Raffensperger clan enjoyed fall trips to their hunting camp in Potter County, Pennsylvania. In New York State, Ed and his sons Andy and Tom enjoyed great success hunting white-tailed deer. Dick Fischer was a close friend and hunting companion. Ed followed Cornell Hockey and Baseball closely, and was academic advisor to members of the baseball team for many years. He also made wine, purchasing grapes from Tunk Hosmer's vinyard and hosting memorable grape-crushing events in the driveway.

Over the years, Shirley became more active in local politics, as member of the Ithaca Town Board and eventually as Town Supervisor. Ed was always supportive of her political career, making bumperstickers and marshalling neighborhood volunteers to stuff envelopes during campaigns. After meetings, he would listen as she vented about the day's conflicts, and pour her a martini, very dry with a twist.

Ed was well known for his teaching, which connected culture, history, politics, and insects. He instilled a love of learning among his students, and taught them to think across disciplines. He was a member of the Entomological Society of America, and the Cornell chapter of the agricultural honor society Gamma Sigma Delta recognized him for "outstanding professional and academic achievements" in 1988. In 1989, he won the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching, and the Louis and Edith Edgerton Career Teaching Award in 1991.

While teaching was his passion, Ed was also known for developing a cluster-fly management program using natural pyrethrum and it's synthetic counterpart permethrin. He found that cluster flies could be controlled year-round by fogging the exterior of buildings once in the fall when the flies attempt to enter the buildings to hibernate. While permethrin is a broad-spectrum insecticide, Ed favored this kind of targeted use for both environmental and economic reasons. Through Cornell Cooperative Extension, Ed helped many hospitals, schools, and other institutions resolve tough infestations of insect pests.

In 1991, Ed became an emeritus professor, and continued to teach for several years. After Shirley's death, Ed travelled to Norway and Alaska with his son, Tom and made several trips to Iowa to visit his daughter, Catharine. During these years, he would often go to the hunting camp in Potter County to fish, relax, and hike on "our hill". In Ithaca, he enjoyed leading the singing at weekly meetings of the Ithaca Club and he frequently met Art Muka for a morning bagel and coffee. He decided to move to Iowa to be closer to Cathy, and died suddenly at her home on May 2, 2003. We miss his gentle, kind, and curious nature every day.

Climb the mountains and get their good tidings.
Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees.
The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy,
while cares will drop off like autumn leaves.

- John Muir

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