Edward Joseph Strapp Jr.

Edward Joseph Strapp
January 20, 1936– April 23, 2024
Edward J. Strapp JR. 88 of Enfield, CT passed away peacefully surrounded by his loving family Tuesday, April 23 at Johnson Memorial Hospital. Edward was born on January 20, 1936 in New Brunswick City, NJ to the late Edward J. Strapp and May (Hagerty) Strapp.
In addition to his wife Linda (Rugani), love of his life and partner of 65 years he leaves to mourn him his 6 children and their spouses; Michael Strapp, Anne and John Gual of Suffield, CT, Laura and Doug Adams of Alexandria, VA, Christopher and Beth Strapp of Granby, CT, Elizabeth and Daniel Lydon of Wesley Chapel, FL and Jennifer Grace of Suffield CT. He is also survived by his 4 cherished grandchildren; Caroline Strapp, Elisabeth Strapp, John Patrick Grace and Edward Grace (named after his grandfather).
Edward was predeceased by his brother James R. Strapp and his wife Linda Strapp, his sister, Alayne C. Campbell and her husband Douglas Campbell and brother-in-law Richard Gilbert. Edward leaves behind his sister, Marilyn Gilbert of Old Saybrook, CT.
After completing high school at Hall High, West Hartford, CT Edward attended The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina where he graduated with the Class of 1958 with a BA in Accounting. Upon Graduation, Edward was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the US Army going on to serve as a Military Policeman at Fort McPherson, Georgia and Fort Rucker, Alabama. After receiving his Honorable Discharge at the rank of Captain in 1965, Edward continued to serve in the Army Reserves for many years. Throughout Edward's life he remained a proud and loyal supporter of The Citadel, where at the 50th Anniversary of his graduation in 2008 he proudly marched with the cadets to the Johnson Hagood Stadium, a Citadel tradition.
Ed worked for the Travelers Insurance Company for over 30 years and retired as a Director at the age of 55. After retirement, Edward's love and respect for God, country and family came together in his final career at Browne's Funeral Home in Enfield, CT. Assisting at viewing and funerals his bearing and respect for families and friends helped to provide comfort at a difficult time, a position that he executed with the seriousness and gravity it deserved.
Edward was a faithful parishioner of the St. Martha's Church and actively participated in the fundraising to establish St. Martha's School, where all of his 6 children attended K through 8th grade. Later on, he performed usher and collection duties weekly at Sunday Masses.
Edward became a third-degree brother in Knights of Columbus on June 1, 1968 where he participated in many fundraisers to support local community efforts. When his boys were younger, he volunteered as their baseball coach for the local Cub Scouts for several years. He also was very involved in assisting his sons in building and racing the Cub Scout Pinewood Derby cars. A not-too successful attempt at teaching his son Christopher how to build models turned into a multi decade passion for Edward, who built more than 50 military equipment models, always in 1:72 scale and displayed in historically accurate arrangements.
An avid golfer, Ed enjoyed weekends at the golf course with his friends and family. Edward and Linda discovered The Point of Woods in Old Lyme a few years after they were married and vacationed for over 20 years with their children every summer. Gardening was another passion of Edward's, one more way to nurture and grow, and the brothers at the Knights of Columbus knew it was July when Edward stopped in with bags of cherry tomatoes. In later years, winters were spent in Tampa, Florida where Edward and Linda could visit with their daughter, enjoy the beach, a little golf, lots of seafood and evenings socializing at the Bamboo Beer Garden, which somehow was filled with other K of C brothers from Enfield!
Edward was proud of the life he built with Linda, raising their children into responsible caring adults and watching, from a distance, but with much interest, his grandchildren's development into young adults.
On behalf of Linda, the family wishes to extend a heartfelt thank you to Heather McKnight whose patience, kindness and caring for our father over these past 4 years brought him joy and happiness. We would also like to thank Marilyn Phillips, who over the past 3 months brought her own special, unique level of caregiving to Edward and his family. He will be forever missed.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Friday, May 3, 2024 at 10:00 am in St. Martha Church (St. Jeanne Jugan Parish) meet at the church. Interment will follow in St. Patrick's King Street Cemetery, Enfield. In lieu of flowers memorial donations may be made to Hartford Healthcare at Home, C/O Cindy Colson, 1290 Silas Deane Highway Wethersfield, CT 06109.