After a life that took him from the tobacco fields of the Connecticut Valley, to the front lines of the Cold War and to a loving family for more than 60 years, Edward Henry Porter died Friday, Feb. 22, 2019, at home in Waterford, Conn., at the age of 88.
His was a life that started not with promise, but pain and challenge. His mother was taken by tuberculosis when he was just three, and his father died in his arms of a sudden heart attack when he was 13. The youngest of four children, he was taken in by his loving uncle and aunt, George and Jess Porter of Bridgeport.
During his early teen years, he spent summers picking tobacco, living in camps along the Connecticut River. Laboring in the summer sun foretold a life where working hard was a core value.
All through his time at Bridgeport Central High School he worked as a self-described soda jerk at a drug store. After graduating in 1950, he did short stints as a clerk and laborer, and in April 1951 he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force on the same day his draft notice for service in the Korean War arrived in the mail.
Edward trained as a sonar technician and fought the Cold War as part of a bomb squadron with the Strategic Air Command, with assignments in England, Colorado and Texas. It was risky work maintaining readiness to fly halfway around the world in the event of the unthinkable. He often told the story of having to call out sick for a flight, only to have the plane go down in bad weather, taking the life of the man who replaced him.
Following his discharge in 1955, he returned home and attended the University of Bridgeport. He fell in with a group of friends that included a trio of nursing students, all who lived together on the same floor.
“We all danced, and we never stopped dancing,” recalls one of them, an Irish girl from West Haven who took a liking to this new, shy, unfailingly polite boy in their group. From the second they met, Jean Hurley and Ed Porter never once went a day without seeing each other until long after their wedding day. They met in March, 1955, married the following March, and had their first child the March after that.
And the three nursing students and their eventual husbands all stayed life-long friends. The Porters, along with Betsy and Jim Armstrong and Louise and Charlie Evans, over the next 50 years would see each other socially, celebrate New Years’ and take numerous vacations together. In their way, they never really stopped dancing.
Edward put his Air Force training to work, first at Olin Chemical and later at United Nuclear Corp. in New Haven, Conn., where he was an electronic technician for more than 30 years. Jean proved to be a formidable and driven partner who achieved notable career success as a nursing instructor and administrator. Her type-A personality complemented her reserved and thoughtful husband, but she was strong-willed. He, on the other hand, was endlessly patient, and loving. “He knew how to handle me,” said Jean.
And it was the story of his family that brought Edward Porter’s life full circle. His fractured and at times chaotic childhood made him appreciate fully the people around him. For more than 62 years he provided a steady, patient presence to his three children and the grandchildren and great grandchildren who followed. He leaned in and loved hard. He was the Scout leader, the Sunday school teacher and the parent at every game, play and graduation.
He was also the partner who shouldered the work at home to make room for his wife’s outsized career long before men were called upon to do so. Together they were a success, raising their children first in Hamden, Conn., and later Old Saybrook, Conn., when United Nuclear transferred all operations to Montville, Conn. For many years during their retirement Ed and Jean maintained a second home in Naples, Fla., and spent winters there, much to the delight of their grandchildren. He loved the New York Football Giants – attending all the games the team played at the Yale Bowl in the 1970s. In his retirement, he relished the camaraderie he found on Florida shuffleboard courts. In the last years in Waterford he cherished the support of Teresa and the other aides who helped him through those final days.
He read voraciously. He could fix anything – his children never once recall seeing a repairman darken the door of their home. Smart people often talked about how smart he was. If you were lucky enough to get him to open up and share, he’d tell you how wrong the world was when it came to treating others poorly because of their race, gender or who they loved. A lifelong diabetic, he took extraordinary care of himself, lest he not be there for his family. And, indeed, he would tell you without hesitation that his greatest achievement and legacy was the family he built through hard work and love.
Edward Henry Porter was predeceased by his parents, Iva (Mumford) Porter and Clifton A. Porter, as well as his siblings, Jane (Porter) Pybus, Katherine (Porter) Vorel and Clifton A. Porter, Jr. He is survived by his loving wife, Jean Jule (Hurley) Porter of Waterford, Conn., and his three children and their spouses, Clifton E. Porter and his wife, Lauri Olson Porter, of South Dearfield, Mass., John W. Porter and his wife, Alexis Porter, of South Portland, Maine, and Linda Porter Rehberg and her husband, John Rehberg, of Old Saybrook, Conn., as well as nine grandchildren, four great grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews.
Calling hours and a memorial service in celebration of his life will be held Saturday, March 2, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., with the service to begin at 1 p.m., at the Swan Funeral Home, 1224 Boston Post Rd, Old Saybrook, Conn. In lieu of flowers, please donate to the American Diabetes Association at www.diabetes.org.
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