DOYLE, EDWARD F.

Edward Frank Doyle, retired Marine Corps lieutenant colonel who fought at Guadalcanal early in World War II, died yesterday, March 22, 1963 in the Veterans Hospital at Batavia. He was 64.

Col. Doyle, whose home was at 433 Beach Ave., had recurring heart trouble for years after the war. He had been in the Buffalo VA hospital twice.

Col. Doyle originally enlisted in the Marine Corps during World War I.

Subsequently, a postwar Marine detachment was formed here and he eventually became a major commanding the old C Company, 1st Reserve Battalion, based at the Main Street East Armory.

He and a brother, George (Fred) Doyle, were the ranking officers of the Marine company when it was federalized early and left for active duty in November 1940. The unit went to Cuba first.

Then assimilated into the 1st Marine Division, Col. Doyle as a major served through the Guadalcanal campaign—the first action to which U.S. troops were committed. He later served in the New Guinea and Cape Gloucester drives.

But in 1944, after being overseas about two years, Col. Doyle was stricken with heart trouble and sent back to the U.S. It was an illness that lasted and forced his retirement from the Marine Corps Reserve.

Col. Doyle, who had a Presidential Unit Citation as a result of the Solomons campaign, was born in the 3rd Ward and had been a Post Office employee. He was a graduate of the old Cathedral High School.

Col. Doyle was a member of the 1st Marine Division Association; Reserve Officers Association; Edson’s Raiders Association; Retired Officers Association; Cooper Post of the American Legion, and of the Men’s Club at Holy Cross Church.

Surviving are his widow, Helen Culhane Doyle; two sons, Donald P. and Edward F. Doyle Jr.; one brother, George F. Doyle; three sisters, Mrs. Roy (Bess) Perkins, Miss Rose M. Doyle, and Mrs. Arthur J. (Helen) Doyle; also several nieces and nephews.

Friends may call Sunday and Monday from 2-5 and 7-9 at the John M. Hedges Funeral Home, corner of Culver Road and Empire Boulevard. Services Tuesday morning at 9:15, and 10 o’clock at Holy Cross Church. Interment in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery.