Edward Walter Jennings

Edward Walter Jennings died peacefully on November 14, 2019 at home in Morro Bay, CA. He was 87 years old. Born in Cleveland, Ohio and raised in upstate New York, Ed lived in New York throughout his professional life. He proudly served in the United States Air Force. Family and friends were the most important love of his life. His commitment to ensure the human rights for previously disenfranchised people with developmental disabilities was the priority of his career as an administrator with the now NYS office for People with Developmental Disabilities. His legacy includes the deinstitutionalization of thousands of people from NYS facilities to humane, local, community-based programs. His advocacy and administrative skills paved the way for individuals to live productive and fulfilling lives. He assisted leaders in other states to follow the lead he set in NYS.

Ed served as Chairman of the Democratic Party in Wayne County, NY. He was honored to chair the upstate NY Committee in 1968 to support Robert Kennedy in his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination. He remained politically active.

Often the life of the party Ed entertained family with stories that took place at his favorite NYC watering hole, Sardi’s restaurant. He had traveled the globe and loved photographing the many wonders he saw. He created art as a young teacher in Newark, New York and continued to paint until the last month of his life.

He was predeceased by his sister Patricia Bennett (Russell) and is survived by wife Sandra Jennings, children Kathy Duerr (Ed), Hope Zubrin (Robert), and Edward Jennings Jr. (Dawn), his beloved grandchildren Oakley, Chase, and Drew, brother Allen Jennings (Marge) and Gaile Sloan Jennings. A Celebration of Life is to be held August 1, 2020 in Clyde, NY