Mr. Edmund M. Diaz III

Edmund M. Diaz, III, 87, of Greenville, SC passed away Saturday, July 14, 2018.
Born in Oradell, NJ Ed was the son of the late Alice Fitchett and Edmund M. Diaz, Jr.
He graduated from Wagner College with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and from Columbia University with a master’s degree in management. After college he joined the US Army and was a member of the Army Counter Intelligence Corps and served in the Army Reserves for several years after being honorably discharged in 1955.
With a long career in human resources administration and employee labor relations Ed worked for notable employers including the American Thread Company, Collins & Aikman, Jeffrey Manufacturing, Crompton & Knowles, Duke Power, Stewart Sandwiches, Mitsubishi Semiconductor and Duke University. In 1990 he left the corporate world and became the owner and operator of Sylvan Learning Centers in Hickory and Morganton, NC.
Over the years Ed also served as a lecturer at UNC-Pembroke, the Duke University Fuqua School of Business and Gardner-Webb University and was an Executive in Residence at Appalachian State University teaching business courses.
He was active in retirement and volunteered with the Piedmont chapter of SCORE, was a certified arbitrator with the Better Business Bureau, participated on the Michelin Development advisory committee offering grants to small businesses and served on several HOA boards.
He was an active member of John Knox Presbyterian Church where he and his wife enjoyed singing in the choir.
Surviving are his loving wife of 41 years, Carol Files Diaz of Greenville, SC; daughter Michelle Diaz-Kotti of Duncan, SC; two sons, Edmund M. Diaz IV (Chip) and his wife Mary Ellen of Garland, TX; John Diaz and his wife Paige of Raleigh, NC; step-daughter Melissa DeCaro Coles and her husband Peter of Piedmont, SC; step-son Jeff DeCaro and his wife Julie; four step-grandchildren, Michael, Brandon, Ryan, and Bethany of NC. He was preceded in death by his parents, sister Lorraine Altemose, step-mother Dorothy (Dot) Diaz, son-in-law James (Jim) Kotti, and step-grandson Larry Evans III.
Services will be held at John Knox Presbyterian Church at 11am on Friday. The family will receive guests prior to the service beginning at 10am and at a reception following the service until 1pm. Burial will be at M.J. ‘Dolly’ Cooper Veterans Cemetery in Anderson, SC at a future date.
In lieu of flowers memorials may be made to the John Knox Presbyterian Church, 35 Shannon Drive, Greenville, SC 29615 or the American Diabetes Association, 2434 Hudson Rd #154, Greer, SC. 29650.