Edward M. Briesch, 70, of Sycamore died Tuesday, June 16, 2020 at his home where he lived with his wife, Margaret.

He was born August 16, 1949 in Chicago, IL. to Edward N. and Rita (Delort) Briesch.  He married Margaret Quick (DeKeizer) on July 22, 2000.

Edward was employed as a Chemical Engineer at Underwriters Laboratories in Northbrook, IL until his retirement in 2015.

While earning his bachelor of science degree in chemical engineering (BSChE) from Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT), Ed also participated on IIT's NCAA basketball and baseball teams. Ed always loved sports. After graduating from IIT in 1971 and briefly working in industry, he joined Underwriters Laboratories (UL). Thirty-eight years later, in 2013, he decided it was time to retire. Throughout his career at UL, Ed made many close friends due to his kind heart, and earned many recognitions due to his global expertise in the area of explosion protection. Having participated on national and international technical committees, published many research and technical papers, and shared his knowledge during seminars, Ed became one of UL's first principal engineers (PDEs) and was recognized as a distinguished member of UL's technical staff (DMTS). In addition to these UL recognitions, along with professional engineer, general manager, and customer service awards, Ed's expertise was also recognized by industry. Industry recognitions were issued to Ed by the International Electrotechnical Committee (IEC) and United States National Committee of the IEC (USNC/IEC) for international standards work, and by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), International Society of Automation (ISA) and National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) for his national standards work.

Edward enjoyed fishing, playing golf, basketball and football, bird watching, travelling.

Survivors include Margaret, his wife; Andrea (Briesch) Schultz, daughter & Matt Schultz (son-in-law), Benjamin Schultz & Samuel Schultz (grandsons); Bryan Quick (step-son) & Holly Quick, step grandchildren: Madelyn, Mercedes, Jameson and Josephine; Caryn (Quick) O'Sullivan (step-daughter) & Mark O'Sullivan, step grandchildren; Elyse & Hannah.

Siblings include Rosemary, Gary and Eileen Briesch; sister-in-law and brother in-law; Sonja (DeKeizer) and Mark Zander.

He was preceded in death by his parents.

A walk through visitation will be on Friday, June 19th from 4:00-7:00 PM at the Butala Funeral Home, 1405 Dekalb Ave., Sycamore, IL.   Facial covering is recommended and social distancing will be appreciated.

A funeral mass will be on Saturday, June 20th at 10:00 AM at the Church of St. Mary, 244 Waterman St., Sycamore, IL, with Fr. Carl Beekman officiating.  Burial will be private.

In lieu of flowers, memorials can be made to The Edward Briesch Memorial Fund at The Village Presbyterian Church, 1300 Shermer Road, Northbrook, IL. 60062.

To sign the online guest book or write a special memory, go to www.ButalaFuneralHomes.com