Ediger

Today years ago today Portland lost one of our leading advocates for causes such as ending homelessness and battling HIV/AIDS when Gene Ediger died.

Friends 2009

Ediger had always had suspicions about his federally subsidized mortgage with Gold Banc, in which the interest rate had been allegedly reduced by 4%.

Gary S. Chafetz: UBS Whistleblower Sentenced to 40-Month Prison Term Puts Chill on Whistleblowing 2009

Aware that he was about to lose his farm, not to mention his sole source of income, Ediger had no idea what to do next.

Gary S. Chafetz: UBS Whistleblower Sentenced to 40-Month Prison Term Puts Chill on Whistleblowing 2009

Between his second and third years, Ediger was hired as a summer intern at Mitchell & DeClerck of Enid, Oklahoma, one of the state's oldest law firms.

Gary S. Chafetz: UBS Whistleblower Sentenced to 40-Month Prison Term Puts Chill on Whistleblowing 2009

"It's so utterly foolish and counter-productive to put (Birkenfeld) in prison," said Ediger.

Gary S. Chafetz: UBS Whistleblower Sentenced to 40-Month Prison Term Puts Chill on Whistleblowing 2009

To avoid foreclosure, Ediger was forced to sell his farm and all of its equipment in 2001.

Gary S. Chafetz: UBS Whistleblower Sentenced to 40-Month Prison Term Puts Chill on Whistleblowing 2009

The Gold Banc had used a complicated and confusing formula to compute its average interest rate, from which the federally subsidized 4% was to be subtracted from the interest rate that Ediger was paying on his mortgage.

Gary S. Chafetz: UBS Whistleblower Sentenced to 40-Month Prison Term Puts Chill on Whistleblowing 2009

The federal government partly subsidized the mortgage interest rate to help small, struggling farmers like Ediger survive.

Gary S. Chafetz: UBS Whistleblower Sentenced to 40-Month Prison Term Puts Chill on Whistleblowing 2009

After graduating from Tabor College in Hillsboro, Kansas in 1977, Ediger began working on the family farm in Garfield County, Oklahoma, not far from the panhandle and the Kansas border.

Gary S. Chafetz: UBS Whistleblower Sentenced to 40-Month Prison Term Puts Chill on Whistleblowing 2009

The chancellor, Richard Byyny, and a university regent, Maureen Ediger, had said that any allegations of sexual assault would be vigorously investigated by the university, the Athletic Department, and the football program.

Still Kicking Katie Hnida 2006