Edward Andrew Lapekas Jr.

Lapekas Jr., Edward Andrew
Edward Andrew Lapekas, Jr., was born in Battle Creek, Michigan, on April 16, 1943, to Elizabeth Yaw Lapekas and Edward Andrew Lapekas. Ed succumbed to cancer on December 1, 2017, in Sarasota, Florida, with Dana (Lillie) Lapekas, his wife of fifty years, and children, Anne Hill and Mark Lapekas, by his side. As was his way, he met the challenge of a cancer diagnosis and all that accompanies it with grace and dignity, while never losing his sense of humor or bypassing a chance to laugh and to savor the joys of family and life itself, large or small.
Dana and Ed divided their time seasonally between their homes on Walloon Lake in northern Michigan and in Longboat Key, Florida. Anne lives in Richmond, Virginia, with her husband, Jeff. She has three boys, William, Peter, and Nicholas Humble, and is step-mother to Connor and Julianna Hill. Mark lives in Chicago, Illinois, with his wife, Carolina and their two boys, Edward and Gabriel.
Ed's grandchildren gave him endless joy. He was and will always be a role model for them as a wonderful, devoted, husband, father, and grandfather and an all-around great human being, gentle but persistent in message. He was admired and valued as a sibling (to Jim, Ron, and Nancy and their families), an in-law ( Patty and Vickie), friend, neighbor, businessman, board member, golf companion, and more.
Ed earned a BA from Albion College and an MBA from Wayne State University. He was drafted into the US Army in 1969, the day his daughter, Anne, was born. He was commissioned as an Artillery Officer after finishing Officer Candidate School and served one year in Viet Nam. He was awarded the Bronze Star.
During the course of their fifty-year marriage, Ed and Dana moved over twenty-five times and lived in many American cities, as well as in London, England and the Netherlands. As a result, they have a network of friends worldwide.
Professionally, Ed served in various roles in the packaging industry throughout his long career, culminating as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at American National Can until he retired in July of 2000. Ed has served on several boards and was currently a director of Silgan Holdings, Inc. This is his own brief list of his professional achievements. It is modest, as he was, and doesn't do justice to his stature among his peers and to his many achievements in the business world.
He served as President of the Walloon Lake Country Club, President of the Walloon Lake Association, and Vice-president of the Walloon Lake Trust and Conservancy. He was also a member of Longboat Key Club and Bird Key Yacht Club.
Ed's family knows his passions: grandchildren, family, collecting, Asian cooking, boating, and golf. He was also a serious gardener, as well as being a reader, a thinker, an observer, and an honest and valued resource to many.
Ed will be missed in the flesh but never forgotten in spirit. He exuded class but also humanity, generosity, and decency. A memorial in celebration of his life will be held in early summer on Walloon Lake, a place he so loved and worked to maintain its long-time viability as a place of pure and natural beauty. He will live on in all of us who knew him.
That said, these are the donations Ed chose, should you wish to honor his life in this way:
The Walloon Lake Trust and Conservancy,
https://www.walloon.org/about/walloon-lake-trust-and-conservancy/,
The Salvation Army, https://give.salvationarmyusa.org/site/Donation2?df_id=25333&25333.donation=form1&mfc_pref=T
A philanthropy of your choice.