Menzo Edward Ingalls

If, any time within the past several decades, you were headed onto Rochester, Michigan’s Paint Creek Trail and encountered a distinguished gentleman with a bright blue gaze stepping out of his immaculate Cadillac, you would have encountered Menzo Edward (Ed) Ingalls. And if you had the good fortune to walk with him on his 3-plus-mile daily walk (a tradition he enjoyed well into his 80s), he might have told you stories about his travels around the world (he and his wife, Jean, literally circled the globe, and visited destinations including Australia, New Zealand, several African nations on safari, Hawaii and Ed’s favorite, Italy. In fact, Ed so enjoyed Italy that he began studying the language in the 1970s and continued to study it at Rochester’s OPC well into 2019).

Ed might have told you a joke or two. He loved telling jokes. And no one laughed harder at his jokes then he did — which meant a single joke could take several minutes, as he struggled to get the words out between his guffaws.

He might have talked skiing — an avid skier, he took to the slopes in Colorado, Banff and the Swiss Alps. Or he may have brought up golfing — he could tell a tale or two about golfing at Western Golf & Country Club and Pebble Beach.

He might have invited you out to one of his favorite restaurants — he loved treating his family and friends to a good meal. Or to a bag of peanut M&Ms, his favorite snack.

Most likely, though, he would have talked about his beloved wife, Jean, whom he married on September 3, 1955. He’d tell you about his daughter, Harriet, and her husband Dr. Don Wild; his daughter, Nancy Potton and her husband, Bryan; and his son, Steve Ingalls and his wife, Christie. He’d proudly list his grandkids, Jeff Steger, Trisha Collinsworth, Amber Larivee, Ashley Larivee, Allie Ingalls and Austin Ingalls. And his great grandchildren — Melissa Eaton, Derek Eaton, and Clifford Collinsworth (Clifford was killed in the Iraq war in 2006). And, he’d tell you he had three great-great grandchildren — Andrew, Carson and Ava Eaton.

Thanks to Ed’s financial wisdom, he made sure all his kids had bank accounts at an early age, and made sure they, his grandkids and great- and great-great grandkids saved, invested and managed their money well. And though he owned and operated Tartan Tool Company, a tool and die business with his partner Bill McGarrity — a successful company that served the Big Three automakers — using tools at home was not exactly his cup of tea, as his son Steve’s numerous shattered model airplane projects would attest.

Ed was born on September 23, 1925 in Highland Park, Michigan, and he passed away peacefully at home, at the age of 95, on November 11, 2020. It was Veteran’s Day — a fitting day for the World War II Navy veteran to say goodbye. Or, in his adopted language — arrivederci.

A private service will be held at a late date.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, https://www.cff.org/give-monthly/, or to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, https://www.stjude.org/donate/donate-to-st-jude.html?sc_icid=header-btn-donate-now.