Edgar H. MacKinlay, 88, Norfolk, Va., and formerly of McConnellsburg, passed away in Norfolk, Va., July 25, 2025.
He was a retired corporate lawyer.
Ed started his legal career with a Wall Street law firm and practiced in New York, Paris and Algiers. Subsequently, he joined the Firestone Tire & Rubber Company in Akron as International Counsel. In 1974 he moved to Virginia Beach and opened a firm in Norfolk/Virginia Beach specializing in corporate and international business matters and practiced there for 45 years representing U.S. and foreign corporations and individuals.
He graduated from Mercersburg Academy (1954) and Washington and Lee University (1958). He was a member of Beta Theta Pi fraternity.
Following graduation from Washington and Lee, he joined the U.S. Navy and was commissioned as an officer after attending Officer Candidate School in Newport, R.I. He served on a destroyer, the USS Turner (1959-1962). Upon discharge from the Navy, he returned to Washington and Lee and graduated from the law school Magna Cum Laude. In law school, he was editor-in-chief of the Law Review and a member of Order of the Coif and Omicron Delta Kappa.
Ed and Julie Whitehurst of Virginia Beach were married in 1964 and had been married for more than 60 years. For the first years of their marriage, they lived in New York City. They also lived in Algiers, Paris and Akron before settling in Virginia Beach in 1974. They also spent time at their farm in Lexington, Va.
While in Lexington, Ed taught international business transaction as an adjunct professor in the Washington and Lee University School of Law.
He served on various corporate boards and on the Virginia Beach Rescue Squad Foundation Board of Directors and was named an honorary member of the Virginia Beach Volunteer Rescue Squad.
In addition to Julie, Ed is survived by daughters: Phoebe M. Hogeland, Vanessa M. Bearden, Alexandra M. Locklear and Charlotte M. Berron; grandchildren: Eliza Hogeland, Clara Hogeland, Reid Hogeland, William Bearden IV, Henry Bearden, Stewart Bearden, Susanna Locklear, MacKinlay Locklear, Sam Berron and Edgar (Lou) Berron; and sons-in-law: Randy Locklear and David Berron.
His sister Jane M. Himes, died in 2022.
He was born September 16, 1936, and grew up in McConnellsburg, Pa., where his father, Edgar H. MacKinlay, Md., was a country doctor and his mother, Helene Brown MacKinlay, was a nurse and homemaker.
Dr. MacKinlay was largely instrumental in founding the Fulton County Medical Center. It is currently celebrating its 75th year serving the people of Fulton County.
Burial will be in the MacKinlay family plot in Union Cemetery in McConnellsburg.
Memorial donations may be made to Fulton County Medical Center, 214 Peach Orchard Rd., McConnellsburg, PA 17233.
The family has entrusted Kelso-Cornelius Funeral Home with arrangements.
Online condolences may be expressed at the funeral home’s website.
To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Edgar, please visit the floral store.
