Edwin M. Kania

1927 - 2025

Edwin M. Kania
1927 - 2025
Edwin Marion Kania, age 97, a longtime resident of Cheshire, CT, died peacefully in Brookline, MA, on January 8, 2025, having lived a life that, in almost all ways, exceeded his childhood expectations.
Ed was born in Hartford, CT, to John and Mary (Chudzik) Kania, who had emigrated from Poland shortly before the start of World War I. Ed and his older brother Frederick were raised in downtown Hartford and graduated from Hartford High School. Like Fred, he attended Middlebury College in Vermont, where he was a Political Science major and was selected for membership in Phi Beta Kappa. At Middlebury, Ed had the opportunity to study with Vermont historian Walter Bogart, who instilled in him a deep interest in both history and public service at the local level. These became abiding themes in Ed's later life. Ed then attended Harvard Business School.
After graduating from Harvard in 1951, Ed received a direct commission as an officer in the U.S. Air Force, where he served in the Korean War. In 1953, Ed married Mary Ellen Hayes, whom he had met while he was in business school and she was attending nearby Wellesley College. They were introduced to each other by their respective roommates, Brian and Allie Quinn, who remained lifelong friends and travel partners. Ed and Mary Ellen had a loving and joyful marriage for sixty-five years until Mary Ellen's death in 2018.
While raising three children in Cheshire and working in accounting and finance for several Connecticut manufacturing companies, Ed became active in local government, initially on the Town's Board of Finance. When Cheshire adopted a Town Council-Manager form of governance in 1971, Ed was elected as the first Chair of the Town Council (then called "Mayor"). Thereafter, he worked to strengthen the Cheshire Land Trust, establish the Lock 12 Park and walking trail, and encourage the preservation of the Town's history through the creation of Historic Districts. Ed and Mary Ellen were active leaders of the Cheshire Historical Society as well as long-standing members of St. Peter's Episcopal Church. Ed's final professional role, as Treasurer of MacDermid Inc. in Waterbury, CT, was perhaps his favorite, and he continued as an advisor to the Company after his retirement.
In 2014, Ed and Mary Ellen moved from their longtime Cheshire home on Cranberry Lane to Elim Park, and in late 2023, Ed moved to Massachusetts to be closer to his beloved family.
A humble man who marveled at how his life had turned out, Ed was deeply grateful for the many friends and colleagues who supported him along the way. He was never one to complain and always had a warm smile and a twinkle in his eye. He will be greatly missed by those who valued his optimism, steadiness, and gentle, welcoming nature. For his family, Ed has left a legacy of honor, kindness, and quiet dignity, as well as a commitment to service. Ed is survived by his three children - Ed Kania, Jr. and his wife Ann of Peterborough, NH; Roberta Schnoor of Brookline, MA; and John Kania and his wife Holly of Norwich, VT - as well as nine grandchildren, one great-grandson, and extended family including his niece, Luann Dunkerley of Newtown, PA; nephew, Fred Kania, Jr. of Columbia, CT; and their respective families.
A private memorial service will be held at St. Peter's Church at a later date. In lieu of flowers, contributions in Ed's name may be made to St. Peter's Episcopal Church, Cheshire, or to the Cheshire Land Trust.