
Edwin D. Nye is the father of William Sanford Nye commonly known as Bill Nye. Edwin’s son Bill Nye is an American mechanical engineer, science communicator, television presenter, and author. He started his career as a mechanical engineer for Boeing and left Boeing to pursue comedy. He is best known as the host of the science education television show Bill Nye the Science Guy (1993–1999).
Edwin D. Nye: Bio Summary
Name | Edwin D. Nye |
Date of birth | 3 May 1917 |
Place of birth | Washington, District of Columbia, District of Columbia, USA |
Famous as | father of Bill Nye |
Died | 23 August 1997 (aged 80) |
Parents | Luther Bertram Nye and Minnie Wheatley Farr |
Spouse | Jacqueline Jenkins-Nye |
Children | Bill Nye, Susan Nye, and Edward Darby Nye Jr. |
Grandchild | Charity Nye |
Who Was Bill Nye’s Father, Edwin D. Nye?
Edwin D. Nye also known as Edwin Darby “Ned” Nye is the man famous as the father of Bill Nye. Edwin was born on 3 May 1917, in Washington, District of Columbia. His parents were Luther Bertram Nye and Minnie Wheatley (Farr) Nye. It is unknown if he is the only child of his parents or not. There isn’t much info about his childhood and family. Nothing is known of his education.
Edwin’s paternal grandparents were Luther Blodgett Nye and Helen Sophia Puffer while his maternal grandparents were William Plume Farr and Sarah Marion Coomes. Edwin served as a quartermaster in the military during World War II. He served in the United States Navy and was in the Battle of Wake Island. He was captured by the Japanese.
Edwin ended up spending four years in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp. At the time, he lived without electricity or watches. He could tell time by observing shadows. He was sent to China to the Shanghai War Prisoners Camp in Kiawgwan, a suburb of Shanghai. Someway somehow, he managed to survive and returned home. He finally received his freedom at the end of the war in the 1940s.
Four years after he was captured, Edwin D. Nye married Jacqueline Jenkins (1921–2000), a codebreaker during World War II. They became husband and wife on 29 December 1945, in Baltimore, Maryland. On November 27, 1955, in Washington, D.C., U.S., they welcomed a son William Sanford Nye (Bill Nye). They are also the parents of Susan Nye and Edward Darby Nye Jr.
Edwin’s experience in the Japanese prisoner-of-war camp led him to become a sundial enthusiast. In Washington, D.C., Edwin discovered dozens of sundials. He photographed them and wrote the book, “Sundials of Maryland and Virginia.” This resulted in a little family business selling his “Sandial®,” a sundial suitable for the beaches of the Atlantic seaboard.
ALSO, READ: Jacqueline Jenkins-Nye: Where Is Bill Nye’s Mother Now?
Edwin D. Nye is said to have also worked as a contractor building an airstrip on Wake Island. He valued his family and taught his son Bill Nye a lot. Although Bill has confessed that he was a rebellious teenager who made a point of not paying much attention to his father, Edwin’s love of sundials stuck with him. According to Bill, Edwin was also very good with knots.
Bill said his father taught him how to tie the knot that changed his career, the square bow.”Dad taught me how to tie it when I was in high school so I could dress as a waiter for the girl’s athletic banquet”, Bill said. He added: “The key is: When you drape it around your neck, one side must be an inch longer than the other side. Then there’s the granny knot, which is a square knot gone awry.”
“The granny knot just won’t work for a bow tie. You must use the square bow. My dad taught me that. He gave me my signature.” Bill who became a mechanical engineer, science communicator, and television presenter always appears in a bow-tie and lab coat. Bill was working as an engineer for the Boeing Corporation and Sundstrand Data Control before he decided to do standup comedy.
This was after Bill Nye became the winner of a Steve Martin lookalike contest in 1978. He has appeared frequently on television shows, including Dancing with the Stars, The Big Bang Theory, and Inside Amy Schumer. He advocates for science, becoming the CEO of The Planetary Society. His father Edwin D. Nye lived a private life.
In the documentary Bill Nye: Science Guy, Bill Nye revealed that most of his family members including his father, sister, and brother had ataxia but he “dodged the genetic bullet”. He is said to have divorced his wife Jacqueline Jenkins-Nye in 1978.
ALSO, READ: Charity Nye: Inside The Life Of Bill Nye’s Daughter
What Happened To Bill Nye’s Father?
Edwin D. Nye died on 23 August 1997, at age 80, in Arlington, Arlington County, Virginia, USA. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Arlington County, Virginia, USA with the inscription “Wake Island Defender” on his tombstone. His ex-wife Jacqueline Jenkins-Nye died on 30 March 2000, at age 79, in Washington, District of Columbia, District of Columbia, USA.
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