Edward A. Coen

Waltham's Ed Coen was the definition of a gentle man. Possessed of great humility, storytelling ability, knowledge of the history of his family, his community, his country and the world beyond, his always present smile and calm demeanor brought comfort and joy to all he met.

He would be quick to share the adventures and the triumphs in his life, mostly involving his eight children and their families who he loved deeply, and sometimes the tragedies that came as part of life's bargain, but always with a spirit of optimism and a deep and abiding faith.

There wasn't much that Ed Coen hadn't seen or experienced in his ninety-one plus years on this earth and those left behind can easily testify that he did the best that he could for as long as he could. He lived his long life according to the Jesuit motto he had committed to as a young man, "Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam" . . . to the Greater Glory of God.

Simply put, he was a really good guy.

Edward A. Coen, Sr., of Waltham, died Tuesday, October 6, 2015 at the Stanley Tippett Home in Needham.

Ed was born in Somerville on August 10, 1924, a son of the late Francis P. and Elizabeth (Healy) Coen, and moved with his family to Waltham when he was a child. While attending Saint Mary's High School in Waltham he was enrolled in an accelerated program at Boston College that began at the outset of World War II.

In 1943 however Ed's college education was interrupted by a call from Uncle Sam and he joined the United States Army. He was sent for specialized training at Yale University in Connecticut and at Princeton University in New Jersey. When the 'Battle of the Bulge' erupted in central Europe just before Christmas, 1944 Ed, and several thousands of stateside soldiers, were quickly issued weapons and sent to Europe as replacement troops where he spent the duration of the war.

He completed his studies at Boston College in 1948 and the same year began a thirty-eight year career at Dun & Bradstreet, retiring in 1986. In 1950 he married his sweetheart, Watertown native Virginia T. Oates, with whom he spent twenty-eight years until her death from cancer at the age of 50 in 1978. Ed later married Barbara J. (Lanctot) Starmer and they had twenty-five years together until her death in January, 2010.

Ed was an accomplished musician who had a talent for playing the piano and was an avid Red Sox fan. He was a longtime active parishioner at Saint Jude Church in Waltham. Ed's fondest affections were reserved for his large family with whom he found his greatest joy.

He leaves his children, Edward A. Coen, Jr. of Beverly, Patricia T. Lynch and her husband J. Harry, of Quincy, Marybeth Oster and her husband, David, of Natick, Kevin J. Coen and his wife, Donna, of Glen Ellyn, Illinois, Pauline A. Milmore and her husband, Stephen, of Waltham, Sheila C. Fleming and her husband, Ernest, of Andover, Anne V. Wilkens and her husband, Barry, of Lowell, and Robert F. Coen and his wife, Sue Ann, of Reston, Virginia; twenty-four grandchildren and nine great grandchildren.

Ed was also the brother of the late Francis Coen.

Family and friends will honor and remember Ed's life by gathering for calling hours in The Joyce Funeral Home, 245 Main Street (Rte. 20), Waltham on Thursday, October 8th, from 4 to 8 p.m. and again at 9:30 a.m. on Friday morning before leaving in procession to Saint Jude Church, 147 Main Street, Waltham where his Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10:30 a.m. Burial will follow in Saint Patrick's Cemetery, Watertown.

Memorial donations may be made to the Italian Home for Children, 1125 Centre Street, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130-3495 would be appreciated.