Rev. Edward Clark Koteskey, lovingly known as Pastor Ed, passed away peacefully on Wednesday, December 17, 2025, and entered into the loving arms of Jesus, at the age of 72. Ed was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to Donald E. and Eleanor (Bradley) Koteskey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ed pursued his calling early in life, earning a Master of Divinity from Nazarene Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Missouri. He later obtained a second master\u2019s degree in Pastoral Counseling from Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais, Illinois.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ed met and married Debbie Litsey, and together they shared a devoted partnership in both life and ministry. Over the course of 35 years, Pastor Ed faithfully pastored five Church of the Nazarene congregations across Michigan, North Carolina, and Montana, answering the call wherever the Lord sent him. He was known not only for his love of people, but for his true compassion and genuine care for those around him. Ed was famous for his warm hugs, his perpetual smile, and a great sense of humor that brought comfort and joy to many. He regularly visited those who were homebound, hospitalized, or residing in nursing homes, and made it a priority to remain personally connected to the lives of those he served.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Outside of ministry, Ed had a deep love for the outdoors. He especially enjoyed hiking in Glacier National Park, fishing, and spending time camping and hunting with his brother and other family members. He also found joy in working outside in the yard, taking pride in caring for his surroundings. For many years, these shared outdoor moments and simple labors created meaningful memories rooted in laughter, faith, and time spent together in nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ed also found great joy in life\u2019s simple pleasures. He loved going out to eat, sharing meals filled with conversation and laughter, and traveling to many places, always eager to explore and experience something new. Above all, Ed cherished time spent with his family. He and Debbie deeply loved Scott and Katie, and nothing brought them greater happiness than being with their grandsons, Jaxson and Greyson, whose lives they followed with pride, affection, and unwavering love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2019, Ed and Debbie moved from Kalispell, Montana, to Citrus Springs, Florida, where they became active members of the Hernando Church of the Nazarene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ed was preceded in death by his parents, Donald and Eleanor Koteskey; his sister, Diane Koteskey; and his brother, Don Koteskey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Those left to cherish his memory include his loving wife of 47 years, Debbie Koteskey, of Citrus Springs; his son, Scott Koteskey (Katie), of Kalispell, Montana; his two grandsons, Jaxson and Greyson Koteskey; and other extended family members who loved him dearly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Those who wish to honor Pastor Ed\u2019s memory may make memorial contributions to Hernando Church of the Nazarene in Hernando, Florida, or to Kalispell First Church of the Nazarene in Kalispell, Montana.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A celebration of life will be held at a later date in Montana. Arrangements are under the care of Chas. E. Davis Funeral Home with Crematory, Inverness.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Rev. Edward Clark Koteskey, lovingly known as Pastor Ed, passed away peacefully on Wednesday, December 17, 2025, and entered into the loving arms of Jesus, at the age of 72. Ed was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to Donald E. and Eleanor (Bradley) Koteskey. Ed pursued his calling early in life, earning a Master of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":990003,"featured_media":119691,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-119690","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-obituaries"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chasdavis.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119690","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chasdavis.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chasdavis.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chasdavis.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/990003"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chasdavis.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=119690"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/chasdavis.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119690\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":119692,"href":"https:\/\/chasdavis.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119690\/revisions\/119692"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chasdavis.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/119691"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chasdavis.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119690"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chasdavis.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119690"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chasdavis.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119690"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}