Memorial services have been set for James Edney, MD, an Omaha surgeon who was recognized as a top breast cancer specialist in the region. Dr. Edney died on Aug. 7 in a plane accident in Victoria, Minnesota. He was 72.
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James Edney, MD |
Visitation will be Tuesday, Aug. 17 beginning at 5 p.m. at St. Cecilia’s Cathedral in Omaha, with a wake at 7 p.m. A Mass of Christian Burial will be Wednesday, Aug. 18 at St. Cecilia’s Cathedral at 11:15 a.m. A memorial service will be held at St. Nicholas Catholic Church of Belle River, Minnesota, on Friday, Aug. 20 at 3 p.m., with visitation starting at 2 p.m. and followed by burial in the church’s cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family invites donations to the James Edney scholarship fund at Creighton Prep.
Dr. Edney served as a surgeon starting in 1975 at UNMC. Early in his career, he completed a one-year fellowship at the University of Colorado. He treated thousands of cancer patients from Omaha and around the country. He was dedicated to finding new and innovative surgical treatments for breast cancer that were less invasive and made the disease more survivable. He was recognized for academic contributions to surgical oncology and was known for his compassionate patient care.
He was a native of Omaha and the oldest of five. Dr. Edney and his siblings grew up in Holy Name parish and went to grade school there. He graduated from Creighton Preparatory School in 1967. He attended Creighton University, where he joined the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity.
A member of his family said Dr. Edney “was known for his sharp, often acerbic, wit and largely impolitic sense of humor. You could locate his table at any restaurant by following the bursts of laughter. He read several books a week, and had a voracious curiosity about the people that he met and their stories."
At UNMC, where he earned his medical degree in 1975, he was a professor emeritus of surgery, a former chief of surgical oncology and led the residency program and the training of scores of surgeons now spread throughout the country. Dr. Edney was elected president of the Southwest Surgical Congress in recognition of his academic contributions to surgical oncology and also served as the president of the Western Trauma Association. He was a member of the Commission on Cancer of the American College of Surgeons. His numerous awards include a Golden Apple Teaching Award from UNMC surgery resident physicians.