by Anura Guruge
on November 5, 2021
The ‘Laconia Daily Mail’ breaking-news story about their Founder & President, Edward Engler, popped up on my Google News feed. As soon as I saw the words ‘Edward Engler’ I knew it was not going to be good.
I am very sad to hear of his passing. Ed was a very decent guy. I have known him since 2001. The above ‘University of Whales‘ story is how we met! We both thought it was funny though I often ribbed him about it. Ed took the ‘Mark Twain‘ adage about ‘… doing the right thing …‘ to heart & tried, by & large, to live by it. He did a lot of good — especially to Laconia. He will be sorely missed. (Kind of sad & ironic that he died a couple of days after the latest Laconia mayoral election (where my other friend ‘Andrew Hosmer‘ got reelected in a landslide.)
I last saw & spoke with Ed at the 2019 Laconia ‘Multicultural Day’. We had quite a long chat. He told me that he was not as well as he looked! Told me he was ‘shaky’. I kidded him about not contesting the mayoral election. It was all in good fun. I am glad he had another two full years left in him. He should have had more.
We, as a family, had dinner with him, at ‘T-Bones‘, in Laconia, in 2014. When I was a member of ‘Laconia Rotary‘, I of course, saw him for lunch nearly every week.
Given his standing & stature others will, of course, pay more eloquent tributes to Ed. I never met his kids. I know he has a daughter, who is a doctor in Colorado. That is why he went to Colorado for his initial treatment. I send my condolences to her.
Well, I will miss Ed. I will always remember him for the ‘University of Whales’. Maybe they should set up a ‘University of Whales’, in Laconia, in his memory.
