Ian Stokes Obituary, Death – Ian Stokes has sadly passed away. Stokes grew up in a home filled with hymns, big band LPs, and an endless supply of rock and soul 45s in Charlotte, North Carolina. Following the release of “Will the Circle be Unbroken,” he immediately grew popular among bluegrass and banjo players. As a result, he started putting together numerous bluegrass bands where he sang, played the guitar, and sang many of his own tunes. Ed was a fantastic teacher, partner in music, husband, father, grandfather, brother, son, and friend.
He was well known for telling individuals to “just do it” when they were unsure of themselves. He was also very active in his community and would sacrifice anything for his loved ones. Ed completed his high school education at West Mecklenburg in 1976, when he was barely 17 years old and Rosanna (Williamson) Stokes became his soul partner. They were married in 1979 not long after he graduated from UNC Charlotte with an engineering degree. In 1986, he moved his family to New York, where he worked at the GE Research Lab in Schenectady.
The birthplace of radio, and attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute to earn a PhD in Physics. He later went back to his native Carolinas and promoted courses on acoustics and digital music production as a professor of electrical engineering at UNC Charlotte. His most recent gigs included “DJ Eddie B” duties for the WNCW programs “Goin’ Across the Mountain” and “ARC Overnight,” where he delighted in playing good bluegrass music and chatting with listeners about the musicians and songs.
Despite having a significant number of professional technical achievements, including 39 patents and co-founding a ground-breaking UV LED company with Rosanna, Ed’s primary passion was music. He was a manager of a project recording studio, a compulsive record collector, and a musical electronica fanatic. Ed was well known for his proficiency on any musical instrument. He was a talented singer and songwriter who favored fusing poetic lyrics with complex instrumentals. He was a very accomplished guitar and banjo player and was a member of the local bluegrass band Stringbound.
Ed’s parents, Mary Elizabeth (“Mary Lib”) and Henry Brittain (“Britt”) Stokes, passed away before him (Springs) (Springs). His 42-year-old wife Rosanna (Williamson), his kids Ian Stokes (Marianne) of Raleigh, NC, and Anna Stokes (Jeremy Leonard) of Brooklyn, NY, along with his granddaughters Britt Stokes, Natalie Stokes, and Julien Leonard, his siblings Bill Stokes (Beth) and Linda Sloan (Ed), as well as a sizable number of nieces, nephews, and cousins, are still in his life.