Edward Arthur Copelin

Ed Copelin enjoyed coffee with his old car friends. Black, no cream or sugar. Hot, never iced, even in summer. It could be very bad and that didn’t matter at all. He enjoyed a physical newspaper to reading online, and he would choose the Wall Street Journal over the New York Times, though the Sunday Times on a Monday was an acceptable stand-in for the Journal, which never ran on Mondays. A morning without a paper wasn’t much of a morning at all. He enjoyed a raspberry horn or a tart from Hillman’s Bakery in Fairfield, ME, though he lamented that the prices kept going up and the sizes kept going down. He clung to his tattered vest, his Packard, his flannel shirts, t-shirts, and baseball caps. And though he never touched them, he clung to his guns, too.

He loved fishing with his grandsons, Louis and Lincoln, and adored the kids they were and anticipated the men they would become. He preferred his daughter-in-law, Abby’s, rice to all others and was happy to be the cow to her tick. He cherished his time with his younger son, Russell, driving across the continent, and he was proud that Russell always made his own way in the world. Clark, his first born, was a loyal son and friend. He loved his wife, Peg, most of all. No one else came close.

Born in Tulsa, OK, in 1943, he attended military school, finished high school in Atlanta in 1961, worked at his father’s truck tire business and enlisted in the Navy during the Vietnam War. He married Peg (Margaret Ann DeCarlo) in Meriden, CT in 1973, which he daily cited as the best decision he ever made. He served the country for 20 years in uniform. He carried the mail in Fairfield, ME for 15 years. He seized opportunity and became a pensioner at 49. He ran his own business selling antique automobilia and petroliana until the day he passed away. He loved a bargain, the thrill of finding something unfound, and turning a profit overlooked by the market. His volumes were small, but his margins were astronomical. He showed both of his boys by example that one can carve one’s own way in this world and that being in the employ of someone else is not a foregone conclusion.

Ed Copelin’s clear blue eyes always twinkled. Quick to laugh and always ready to help, he took care of his family and friends. If a father’s role is to be foundational, he lived his role. His joy for life and all the people he knew and loved was the wave he rode every day. Not without a temper when angry, he was nonetheless the happiest, most loved, and most contented man we have ever known. A little sparkle has gone out of our lives now that he is gone, but we are left with a king’s treasury of memories and moments that we could not deplete in a dozen lifetimes. He passed away on the evening on July 5th as he always intended: at home, surrounded and completely loved.

In lieu of flowers, a donation can be made in Ed’s name to Tunnels to Towers Foundation (www.t2t.org), a charity he patronized for many years.