Eddie was a loving husband. He and Karen enjoyed sailing, traveling, walking, and being together at their home in Connecticut overlooking Candlewood Lake. They also enjoyed time at their cottage on Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire, where they could relax, sail, swim, listen to music, and enjoy time with friends.
Eddie will be remembered as a man of many talents and many friends. He was a professional musician, a competitive sailor, and a skilled woodworker and mechanic. He brought intensity and passion to everything he turned his hands to. Through his family, his work, and his passion for sailing and music, he had an incredible circle of friends.
Music was a significant part of his life from an early age, passed along to him and his brothers Joe and Paul and his sister Anna by his mother Faust, herself a musician and teacher. He played bass guitar and bass violin in rock bands, blues bands, and bluegrass bands and even toured with Chubby Checker in venues from smoky taverns to Madison Square Garden. He played and sang at concerts, music festivals, community events, club events, and with his friends and family.
Sailing was another love and, as with everything he did, he pursued it to the maximum. He restored his wooden boat Alskling (a special loved one), made his own sails, learned to navigate with an astrolabe, and raced extensively in the New York area. After starting on the Hudson River, he sailed in the United States, Europe, the Caribbean, and once even on an African ngalawa (dugout with an outrigger) in the bay at Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.
Eddie was a past Commodore at the Morris Yacht and Beach Club in City Island, New York. He volunteered an extraordinary amount of his time to the club and its members. He was a friend of the entire boating community of City Island and surrounding waters, especially through his passion for racing. Eddie rescued a tired C&C 27 sailboat from the Morris Yacht and Beach Club, “Starlight” and spent endless hours working to restore her for racing. He loved his boat and obsessed over every detail to make her ever more competitive. He won plenty of races and trophies to prove it.
He also spent time as a sailing instructor at the American Sailing School in New Rochelle, New York. He taught newcomers to learn the basics and experienced sailors to become better. After his formal teaching of sailing, he never stopped guiding his sailing friends on how to improve, how to challenge themselves to be better at racing, and importantly, how to maintain their boats.
Eddie was an exceptional craftsman, especially when there was a high degree of difficulty involved. He could build a staircase with hand tools or a ship’s mast in a New York apartment. He also restored old vehicles and motors and was never happier than when he was working on some obsolete piece of equipment in the most difficult situations.
In his personal life, he was beloved by all who got to know him. His strong exterior housed a warm, open, and generous soul. He would help anyone who asked for help, and selflessly give away days of perfect wind and sun to ensure others were looked after before he would go sailing himself. People admired and loved him. It is said that the only true virtue is sincerity and Eddie was sincere to a fault. He was called “Mr. Natural” because he had no pretensions or airs and demanded to be accepted for who he was. He leaves a large hole in the lives of the many lives he touched.
A Memorial gathering will be held at the Morris Yacht & Beach Club. Saturday June 15th beginning at 3:00 pm.
Donations in honor of Eddie would be gratefully received by: Rocking the Boat and Danbury Music Centre.
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