Daily Sun founder remembered as visionary, dedicated and kind

LOS ALAMITOS, Calif. — Edward J. Engler, former mayor of Laconia and founder of The Laconia Daily Sun, died on Nov. 5. He was 74.

Engler was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2017 and endured four years of surgeries and treatments. Since April, he had resided at the Los Alamitos, California home of Laura and Stephen Fitzmaurice, his daughter and son-in-law, where he died.

His daughter said he had been living there since mid-April, and that recent weeks had been difficult for him.

Those close to Engler spoke of a man who identified ambitious goals, then worked hard to achieve them. He is also remembered as a valued friend and father.

Fitzmaurice said that, during her youth, her father was often her first unofficial coach. The family joke was that her mother would sign her up for a sport, then tell her father to teach her how to play it.

“That was a big part of our relationship. He taught me to play everything. He taught me the basics of soccer, certainly basketball, and softball. And I played all three of those all through high school,” she said. And when she became an adult, Fitzmaurice credited her father for her understanding of risk and reward.

“I will remember him most as a role model for me (for) bravery, taking calculated risks, being creative, doing things like starting the paper, wanting to be the mayor. That will be his biggest legacy for me,” Fitzmaurice said.

Engler’s son Brian, who lives in Montana, said that those who knew his father in an official capacity didn’t know the full man. He also followed the Boston Red Sox, and loved the movie The Big Lebowski.

“He was more than just a mayor and newspaper guy,” Brian said, noting that he was planning to spend the day listening to some of his father’s favorite music: Neil Young, Journey, and opera. “He had an eclectic taste in music for sure.”

Long-time friend Julie Lanoie said, “When I asked Ed once last year how he wanted to be remembered professionally, he said, 'As a person who could take complex concepts or issues, study and synthesize them, and present them in a way that could be easily understood.'

“The way I will remember him personally though is as the most reminiscent and sentimental person I have ever met. He still subscribed to his hometown newspaper, 56 years after leaving his childhood home in South Dakota, he loved to tell stories of the past, and it didn't take much to make him cry. A Bruce Springsteen song, for example, could open the floodgates.

“For someone with such a public presence, he was a very private person and I consider myself lucky to have known him. Ours was arguably an improbable friendship from the start, as we had vastly different interests and values, but over the 23 years we knew each other, he taught me that connection is not limited to similarities, that age can be the least of differences, and that the unlikeliest of friends can turn out to be the most loyal,” Lanoie said.

Engler was born in Ipswich, South Dakota, on June 8, 1947. His next home was in Austin, Texas, where he studied journalism at the University of Texas. He began his career in Texas, and later lived in three other states. But it was in Laconia that he made his greatest professional impact, and some close friends.

Michael Kitch worked for Engler as a reporter, from 2003 to 2017.

“Personally, I never had the opportunity to work, for so long, for such an extraordinary guy,” Kitch said. “What I found so impressive was that he understood the newspaper business inside and out.

“He knew what kind of stories he wanted. He wanted local news, but he wanted you to treat local news as if you were talking about the state house. He encouraged you to get into the details of the issues, and the context. That was one of his favorite words: context.” Kitch said that Engler dedicated himself to his work, and that, in turn, inspired others around him to do the same.

Kitch said Engler was pleasant to be around, and that he had a great sense of humor.

“It was a treat to sit down and talk to him about almost anything. You came away informed and encouraged. He was a mentor, I learned a lot from him,” Kitch said. “I just found him a remarkably impressive person.”

Bob Hamel, city councilor, got to know Engler as he was preparing for his first of three successful mayoral campaigns.

“Through him being mayor, me being councilor, we became really good friends,” Hamel said. “I think he was one of the best mayors we’ve had in a long time. He was a person with drive and a willingness to get things done, a very intellectual man. Knew government, knew state government, had a lot of contacts, impressed me with his knowledge of many things. If you were going to go on Jeopardy, you’d want to have him as a friend,” Hamel said.

Hamel and Engler worked closely together as part of the team that succeeded in acquiring and renovating the Colonial Theatre, which re-opened this year. Engler is seen as the spearhead behind that initiative, and the force that kept the team on task even after their initial financial plan fell apart.

Yet Hamel also saw Engler’s more relaxed side. They frequently met for breakfast, and they rode their motorcycles through the mountains to Americade, a motorcycle festival in Lake George, New York.

“I will miss him as a friend,” Hamel said.

Allan Beetle was another of Engler’s friends.

“The mayor was a true friend and mentor to me, and I’m grateful for all his contributions and support over the past decade. Laconia is so much better because of him. He is missed,” Beetle said.

Adam Hirshan and Mark Guerringue, longtime business partners with Engler, noted how he continued to pursue his personal and professional goals even after his diagnosis.

“Ed was a hard-working and loyal business partner, a wise and effective leader and an exceptionally kind and generous individual. He loved his kids and grandkids, his special friends, his Sun family and his city, and we are all better off for every minute he spent with us. Ed bravely spent his last years continuing to play an important role in our lives. He will be sorely missed, but always remembered with fondness and respect,” said Hirshan.

Guerringue said, "I met Ed when I worked as his editor when he was general manager of a weekly in North Conway in the early 1980s. We went our separate ways, but with Adam 20 years later we started the Sun. We've all enjoyed a successful partnership and friendships, and his passing is a blow."