A community remembers Ed Engler

LACONIA — Sentimental, tenacious, intelligent, bold, quirky, principled were just some of the words that were used to describe Ed Engler during a memorial service Sunday which marked the life and accomplishments of Laconia’s 51st mayor and a founder of The Laconia Daily Sun.

Municipal officials, former colleagues, and local residents gathered to honor the memory of Engler who died last Nov. 5  after a long illness from cancer. The service was held in the restored Colonial Theatre, which several speakers called Engler’s greatest legacy.

“He stood strong,” Mayor Andrew Hosmer said, recalling Engler’s tenacity in seeing the Colonial project through despite the numerous setbacks.

The performance space of the 750-seat theater is named in his honor, and Hosmer noted during his remarks that the artistic lettering reading “Edward J. Engler Auditorium” was painted over the doorway just days before Sunday’s service.

Hosmer said what made Engler such an effective and respected leader was willingness to listen with an open mind.

“He listened to people. I remember him saying (of those interactions). ‘I learned something. They changed my mind,’” Hosmer recalled.

Former Mayor Mike Seymour, who acted as master of ceremonies for the event, said that though Engler was an elected official, “He was not a politician, but a true community servant.”

Both City Manager Scott Myers and City Councilor Bob Hamel said that the Colonial would be Engler’s most enduring legacy.

“This was his greatest passion,” Hamel said.

Myers said that passion was driven by an unshakable commitment to the city’s future.

“If we’re not willing to invest in ourselves, why should we expect anyone else to,” Myers said, explaining the thinking behind Engler’s tenacity.

Other speakers noted that it was that same tenacity that led Engler to establish and lead The Daily Sun, the first edition of which appeared exactly 22 years prior to Sunday’s memorial observance.

Michael Kitch, who was a reporter at the paper from 2003 to 2017, recalled that Engler hired him when he was 63 years old, a time when most people are preparing for retirement.

“I learned from him,” Kitsch said. “It was like having a second youth. My time with Ed was less of a job and more of an adventure.”

Engler’s son and daughter, Brian Engler and Laura Fitzmaurice, and longtime friend, Julie Lanoie, provided a more personal perspective.

Fitzmaurice recalled her father as someone who imparted wisdom by example.

“Most of what I learned was from watching him live,” she said.

Lanoie, who first met Engler in 1998, described him as “eccentric, quirky, sentimental” who kept a list of people he would want as guests for his last supper before his passing.

Some notable people were put on the list only to be deleted later — the one exception being author Doris Kearns Goodwin, whose book “Wait Till Next Year,” a memoir about her father and their shared love of baseball, was one of Engler’s favorite reads.

Many speakers commented about his love for America's pastime, but when it came down to it, what really mattered for Engler was welfare of the city and its residents.

Allan Beetle noted that Engler was a staunch supporter of the WOW Trail, though he was not a jogger or a bicyclist, and threw himself wholeheartedly into the Colonial restoration effort despite not being a particular aficionado of the performing arts.

“He was a Laconia resident,” Beetle said of Engler’s motivation.

Standing at a lectern at the front of the theater’s orchestra level with a portrait of Engler and floral arrangement displayed on the stage, Fitzmaurice said, “It’s not the size of the stage that matters. It’s the size of the heart performing on that stage.”