TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) - Edwin L. Neville, a Tucson Fire Department
battalion chief who rose to be an important part of the
department's emergency medical services, has died after a long
battle with multiple sclerosis. He was 53.
Neville, who died Friday, was the "linchpin" between the Fire
Department and emergency rooms, said fellow Battalion Chief Dave
Ridings, who joined the department with Neville in 1977.
He had battled MS, a degenerative disease of the central nervous
system, since the mid-1980s and had been confined to a wheelchair
since the late 1980s.
Neville graduated from the University of Arizona in 1975.
He's survived by his wife, Giovanna; a 7-year-old daughter,
Samantha; two brothers and two sisters.
Services were scheduled Monday at St. Philip's in the Hills
Episcopal Church.

(Copyright 2002 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)