WATERTOWN, NY — Edward D. Cornish, Sr., 90, passed away Monday, Feb. 17, 2020, at the Samaritan Keep Home.
The funeral service will be held 11 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 22, 2020, at Stone Presbyterian Church, Chestnut Street, Watertown. Spring burial will be in the Brookside Cemetery at a date and time to be announced.
Born in Naples, NY, a son to Claude S. and Bessie Nudd Cornish, he attended Naples High School where he played baseball, basketball and was in the choir and band.
Following graduation he attended Boston University for one year then transferred to Clarkson University and graduated as a Civil Engineer. While in college he sang in the College Choir Club and was a member of the Sigma Delta Fraternity. Later on he received his professional engineer license.
While in Clarkson he met his college sweetheart Sally on a blind date and they were married Dec. 20, 1953.
Mr. Cornish worked for the N.Y.S. Department of Transportation for 37 years.
Ed leaves behind his wife of 67 years Sally, five children, Michelle (David) Pfaff, Edward “Skip” (Karen) Cornish, Jr., twin daughters, Debbie and Diane Cornish and Karin Lapusnak; six grandchildren, Jim (Jenifer) Lewis, Whitney (Dusty) Woods, Carrie Pfaff, Jeffrey Terrillion, Alex Lapusnak, Katie Lapusnak, 2 great-grandchildren, Miles Lewis and Makayla Woods; two sisters, Joanne Wallace, Rosie Frank and a sister-in-law Marilyn Cornish.
Besides his parents, he was predeceased by his brothers, Sam, Ron and a sister-in-law Mary.
Over the years Ed was a member of the Methodist Church, Congressional Church and the Stone Presbyterian Church and was very active in various activities. He enjoyed bridge and played with friends from Congressional Church every month for over 30 years and sometimes included the wives for dinner. He also enjoyed getting together with the DOT retired lunch bunch. They would meet for dinner when they were young but as they got older they would go to lunch.
Ed enjoyed playing golf at the Park Golf Club where he was a member for several years. He was active in Lyric Theater for many years along with some of his family members. He had the chance to sing with one of his granddaughters in one of the shows, which was a great memory for him.
Ed volunteered for several years in the Samaritan Medical Center gift shop and a member of the Jefferson County Historical Society. Ed received an award for running the United Way Campaign at the State Office Building for several years.
Ed’s number one priority was his family. He enjoyed helping Sally with her kindergarten school projects, taking family trips and making a lot of fond memories.
His family would like to thank the 8th floor of the Samaritan Keep Home for the wonderful care that was given to him during his stay there. They would like to give an extra thanks to Michael Neubin, Deanna Jackson, Donna McPherson and Shirley Howard.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Stone Presbyterian Church, 140 Chestnut St., Watertown, NY 13601 or the United Way of Northern New York, 200 Washington St., Watertown, NY 13601.
Online condolences may be made at www.reedbenoit.com