Edwin C. White

Edwin (Ed) White, 92, of Middleboro, MA, formerly of Easton, died on May 23, 2021, after a brief illness. He was predeceased by his wife, Lyn White of 62 years, and was the mother of Jennifer Heine and her husband Joseph of Hanson, MA and Christopher White and his wife Meg. Ed was the proud grandfather of Thomas Heine of Hanson and Drew and Alex White of Pennsylvania. Predeceased by his brother, Lloyd White, he leaves his sister Wanda Higgins of California, who he was always proud to tell everyone was his Irish twin, along with his nieces, nephews, and many friends. Born June 7, 1928, in Brockton at the Goddard Hospital, Ed was the son of the late Vera J. and Leslie White. He was raised in the Eastondale section of Easton and attended Oliver Ames High School and Chauncy Hall School in Boston. He earned his undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering from Tufts University. After graduating from Tufts, Ed followed his life-long interest in airplanes and went to work for the propeller division of Curtis Wright in New Jersey. After a few years at Curtis Wright, he returned to Easton to work at the family business of Simpson Spring Co. He took over as President from his father in the 1960s and worked until his retirement in 1989. He was President of the Massachusetts Bottlers' Association and served as Secretary of the New England Independent Bottlers' Association(NEIBA). He remained an active member and editor of the "NEIBA News" newsletter up until recently. Ed was very involved in the Easton community before moving to Middleboro in 2005. He helped facilitate the gift from the Ames family of the Railroad Station to the Historical Society and served as President of the Historical Society. For many years he ran the annual Antique Auto Show held at the Railroad Station. As President of the Ames Free Library, he facilitated the change in private ownership of the Library to ownership by the Town of Easton. Ed was an active member of Unity Church of Easton until services went online because of CoVid. For many years, he sang in the choir, served as President of the church and was involved on many committees. At North Easton Savings Bank, Ed served as a corporator, trustee, Board of Investment member, and Chairman of Board. He was a Lifetime member and strong supporter of Lyn's involvement with the startup of the Natural Resources Trust of Easton and its acquisition of Sheep Pasture. After his retirement, Ed continued his involvement in community groups and at the age of 65 earned his private pilot's license. He considered his first solo flight at 64 "the most thrilling moment." He and Lyn enjoyed many camping and canoe trips, travelling around the United States in their Cesna airplane after they both learned to fly it. More recently they became snowbirds, enjoying winters in Sun City Center, Florida. Ed will be remembered by many as an honest, well respected businessman always happy to mentor the young people who worked for him and others he met along his path. Most of all, being with Ed was always FUN! Whether it was building a sandcastle, riding in the MG or Model A around town or through the woods, writing and performing plays in his Eastondale basement as a child, playing cards and pretty much any game, singing Christmas carols, picking blueberries and eating the pie, playing the piano, doing puzzles, playing croquet, reading the Funnies, eating vanilla ice cream, flying balsa wood airplanes, playing softball, swimming, trick-or-treating, or going to the Olive Garden, Ed always had a welcoming smile and a laugh that made everyone want to play too. He remained forever young at heart! A celebration of Ed's life will be held at The Pavilion at Sheep Pasture, 307 Main St, No. Easton on Saturday, June 12 at 2PM. In lieu of flowers, donations in Ed's name may be made to the Easton Historical Society, PO Box 3 North Easton, MA 02356 or Unity Church, 9 Main St, No. Easton, MA 02356.