Edward Thomas Custard

Ed Custard, also known as Eddie, a 30+ year resident of Sugar Loaf in the Town of Chester, a lifelong college admissions professional by trade and drummer in his leisure, and most recently a home shopper in retirement with Shop Rite of Chester, transitioned from this life on December 8, 2025, following a major coronary episode which occurred on Thanksgiving Day. Ed was 68 years old. 

The son of Bernice Shunowski Custard and the late Edward Thomas Custard, Sr., Ed was born on October 13, 1957, in Goshen, New York, where the family lived until moving to a new house in Cherry Heights in the Village of Chester, New York, in the spring of 1960. A few months later, they welcomed the birth of Eddie’s sister, Linda Marie Custard, followed three years later by the birth of baby brother, Michael John Custard. The Custard family enjoyed many years gathering with friends and family in this home in Chester, often entertained by the music provided by Ed and his friends in various bands in their teen years. 

Ed learned to play the drums in elementary school and continued throughout high school and college. Ed’s fondest memories of playing drums were with the high school rock band he and several friends formed, Oak Ridge Band. They played local music festivals, Carpenter barn dances sponsored by Chester Park and Rec, and various parties around town. While in college, Ed continued playing in a band with his childhood friend and former Oak Ridge lead guitarist, Billy Perry. Being the drummer, Ed hosted practices in the basement of the family home in Chester, with music echoing out of the garage across the fields of black dirt.

 Professionally, Ed was a lifelong college admissions counselor. His career progressed from being an admissions tour guide while a student at Manhattanville College, in Purchase, New York, to becoming an admissions counselor upon graduating from Ladycliff College, to moving on to NYU as an admissions counselor at the Tisch School of the Arts. His greatest source of pride in working at NYU was that he admitted Spike Lee to film school. Ed moved from NYU to become Associate Director and then Director of Admissions at New College of the University of South Florida. He then moved back to New York to become Director of Admissions at SUNY Purchase. Being a director of admissions limited his interaction with students, which was at the heart of his love for admissions work. He transitioned to become a Certified Independent College Admissions Counselor, running his own counseling service with his extensive knowledge of the college admissions process. He also joined with The Princeton Review, an education services company that provides tutoring, test preparation, and admissions resources for students, where he became the lead author of several editions of the annual Princeton Review Best Colleges Book, a resource for students that provided information on the best 300 colleges that year, as rated by students rather than statistical data.

In keeping with his desire to directly connect with students who most needed guidance for the college admissions process from finding the right match, test preparation, essay writing, and securing scholarships and f inancial aid, Ed spent multiple summers working with College Summit, now known as Peer Forward, a nonprofit based in Washington D.C. which focuses on increasing college attendance among low income students from urban and rural areas nationwide. Ed gave his heart and soul to these students and truly worked to attain the very best outcomes for them. He often shared stories of students he worked with that brought him to tears with their stories of the challenges they faced at home. This program gave Ed the most personal satisfaction of his professional career in college admissions. We have found hundreds of thank you letters from students he worked with through this program, thanking him for opening them up to worlds of which they never dreamed they could be a part. Each of those students and their expressions of gratitude sums up Ed’s legacy of being a kind and compassionate soul, always most concerned about the less fortunate.

Right on par with Ed’s passion for college admissions and the college experience was his love for college football – especially West Point’s Black Knights. GO ARMY! – BEAT NAVY! Ed and his brother Mike spent countless hours on the phone together watching college football games. Ed was a history buff, and West Point held a special place in his heart, especially when his family history research revealed that General George Armstrong Custer, a West Point graduate, was indeed a relative, as our grandmother often told us.

While we speak of Ed’s passing with heavy hearts and experience a void that will never be filled where Ed once sat beside us and regaled us with his gift for storytelling, unlimited humorous tales, our sadness is mitigated by the profound gift of life he was able to give to so many through his unrestricted organ donor pledge. We are overwhelmed with the results of his generosity, as reported to us by Live On New York. His unrestricted donation has helped over 50 recipients with restored eyesight, burn recovery, bone disorder remediation, and various organ transplants. He has truly helped those less fortunate, as was his passion. They are blessed with the goodness of Ed’s being in those gifts they received from him, as are we with the knowledge that he continues to live among us through them.

Ed was never married and has no children. He is survived by his mother, Bernice Shunowski Custard, a resident of Valley View, Goshen, New York; his sister, Linda Custard Curcio and her husband Craig Curcio, of Middletown, New York; his brother, Michael Custard of Port Charlotte, Florida; and nephews and nieces Nicholas, Lauren and Oliver Curcio; Zachary and Sarah Curcio; Sarah Custard and Alexa Custard; along with uncle Raymond Shunowki and aunt Marion Shunowski of Kansas City, Missouri, and many cousins. 

If you would like to give a gift or donation in honor of Ed, we ask that you donate to the summer college admissions counseling program that Ed so enjoyed being a part of: Peer Forward 712 H St. NE, Suite 99125, Washington, D.C. 20002 by mail, or https://www.peerforward.org/donate/; You can choose the option to name the honoree of your donation online or simply make a notation on a check if sent.

 A celebration of Ed’s life will be held at a date to be determined.