Obituary of Edgar Barclay Cale III

Edgar "Chip" Barclay Cale III of Wayne, Pennsylvania, passed away peacefully at the age of 61 on June 16, 2025. He was born in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania to E. Barclay Cale Jr. (Marilyn Chambers) and Margot Rowley (Chandrakant Gupta). As a devoted and cherished husband to Michele (Parks) and father to his beloved son Lawson, Chip was also immensely proud to be the hub of his close-knit extended family.

Raised in Wallingford, Chip graduated from Nether Providence High School in 1981 where he played soccer and made lifelong friends. While pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree at the University of Pennsylvania, he rowed crew and belonged to the Sigma Nu fraternity. Chip heeded the call to go west, joining his older brother Chris (Regina Pagano) in California, where he earned a Juris Doctor law degree from the University of California Berkeley School of Law. He started his career in law with private practice law firms, Venture Law Group and Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison, supporting emerging growth companies in the life sciences and technology sectors. Chip often reminisced about this being an exciting time to work in Silicon Valley at the forefront of the digital age.

After nearly fifteen years in California and many well-loved road trips crisscrossing the U.S., Chip returned to the east coast and spent the next twenty years in various senior legal roles at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), initially focusing on early stage Research & Development transactions, before relocating to Brussels, Belgium to assume the role of General Counsel of GSK Vaccines. In 2007, Chip returned home to Philadelphia with his wife and newborn son, and settled into family life as Vice President, Associate General Counsel of Worldwide Business Development Transactions. The opportunity to move abroad presented itself once again in 2014, when Chip took the family to London, England as the head of the newly created GSK legal department supporting worldwide strategic transactions and corporate functions. In addition to creating a new legal group, Chip served as lead legal counsel for the unprecedented $20 billion asset swap deal with Novartis. In more recent years, Chip found fulfillment as General Counsel of the biotech start-up, Passage Bio. He was energized with their mission to improve the lives of patients with rare neurodegenerative diseases by delivering gene therapies that have the potential to transform the future.

Chip truly embodied the spirit of Carpe Diem and strived to make every day count. He was the consummate explorer and traveled the world extensively on countless adventures from Cape Horn and Machu Picchu to national parks throughout the U.S. Wherever Chip roamed, his wife and son were always along for the ride. Known for his boundless energy and interests, from sailing the Chesapeake Bay with his brother Chris aboard their boat, the Golden Horn, to climbing another 14'er and skiing the "CaleAdams" trail in Colorado, with his sister Laura Cale Adams (Dan) and family. Chip could often be found strolling the beach at sunrise or sunset in Stone Harbor with his loyal dog Quincy by his side. He was a member of the Yacht Club of Stone Harbor since 2021.

Being a father and mentor to Lawson was Chip's greatest joy and achievement, and he will be remembered as a loyal and dedicated husband, father, son, brother, nephew, uncle, cousin, friend and colleague. He is survived by his wife, Michele; son, Lawson; parents; Barclay (Marilyn), Margot (Chandrakant); siblings; Laura (Dan), Chris (Regina); nieces/nephews: Shelby Fordyce (Chris), Fred Cale (Holly Holmstrom), Jenna Adams (Ryan Dickerson), Daniel Cale (Stephanie Harmon), Gaines Adams (Allegra Levy), and Alex Parks; stepbrother: Brad Hawkins; in-laws: Helen Parks Conklin (David); many great nephews, aunts, cousins and innumerable friends. Chip is predeceased by his father-in-law Owen Parks and brother-in-law Owen Parks Jr.

Services will be held on Friday, July 18th, 10:00 AM at St. David's Episcopal Church,  763 S. Valley Forge Rd. Wayne, Pennsylvania. In lieu of flowers, his family kindly suggests that you consider a memorial donation in Chip's name to one of the non-profit organizations closest to his heart – The Chesapeake Bay Foundation and The Sempervirens Fund to preserve the redwoods of California. Online condolences may be shared at www.paganofuneralhome.com.