Edwin G. ("Pete") Wells died on November 16, 2022. There will be a brief graveside
committal service at 11:00 A.M. on Tuesday, December 6, at Volusia Memorial Park in Ormond Beach. Details about a memorial service to be held in the New Year will be determined later.
Pete was born in Petersburg, VA on April 10, 1920, to Edwin Moses Wells and Ruth
Watkins Wells. The nickname Pete, which he used for all his life, came from the comic strip "Petey Dink," which was popular in the years before he was born. The family moved to New Jersey when Pete was a small boy, and they lived in various cities in northern New Jersey. Pete graduated from Columbia High School in Maplewood, NJ, in 1939 and attended the University of Newark (now Rutgers Newark). He graduated from the Howard University College of Dentistry in 1944 and went on to serve as a dentist in the army during World War II. He was stationed in what is now Indonesia and the Philippines. After returning from service, he set up a dental practice in Maplewood, NJ. In 1950, he married the former Edith Morris, who was an elementary and, later, high school teacher in the Newark, NJ school system, and they remained married for 64 years, until her death in 2014. They eventually moved to East Orange, NJ, and he set up his dental office in the house. They remained there until he retired in 1988. Their son, Raymond Wells, was born in 1953. They moved to Palm Coast in 1988, to be near Edith's sister and brother-in-law. Their brother-in-law, Donald Wilson, was a retired Episcopal priest who at the time was on the staff of St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Palm Coast, and they began attending that church. They initially moved to the Las Palmas independent living facility in 2012 but moved to an assisted living facility when
Edith was in her last illness. After her death, Pete moved back to Las Palmas and remained there until he died.
Pete was an avid golfer. He started in the 1960's and continued until arthritis kept him
off the golf course. Even after that, he took practice swings in his apartment. He said that he had developed the system for getting a golfer lined up to make a proper shot each time, which he called "Pattern Golf." It basically involved a series of numbered positions into which a golfer was supposed to move the club to get the head, the hands, the club, and the feet into the right position to make a shot. He worked at that right up until the end.
In addition to golf, Pete enjoyed bowling. He and Edith were members of the Suburban
Athletic Club bowling league in New Jersey, and for years Wednesday nights were their bowling nights. In his younger days, he also played basketball and tennis and briefly tried sailing. One of his classic stories was about a high school teacher who told him at one point, "You have a choice: You can play basketball, or you can be in my class. Let me tell you something, though. I've seen you play, and you're not that good!" He said that that teacher became one of his best friends in school.
In New Jersey, Pete was a member of the North Jersey Men's Club. In Palm Coast, he
was a member of the Hosts of Palm Coast. Pete and Edith and their son vacationed in Oak Bluffs, MA, on Martha's Vineyard, for many years. They initially stayed with friends or at a hotel and then began renting a house there. When that house came up for sale in 1976, they and Edith's younger sister Jessie Wilkerson bought it, and they retained it for the next 36 years.
In addition to his son, Pete is survived by his cousin, Alan Clark; his sister-in-law, Jessie
Wilkerson; his nieces, Paulette Braxton, Milagros Williams, Sylvia Collins, and Juana Brown; and numerous great nieces and nephews, great-great nieces and nephews, and children of his first cousins.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Howard University, Division of
Development; Alumni Relations, 1851 9 th St., NW, Washington, D.C. 20001, or to St. Thomas Church, 5400 Belle Terre Pkwy., Palm Coast, FL 32137, In either case, please put "In memory of Edwin G. Wells" on the memo line of the check. Arrangements are under the direction of Lohman Funeral Home Palm Coast. Condolences may be shared with the family at www.lohmanfuneralhomes.com.