Funeral services are scheduled for Monday, Aug. 10, at 9:30 a.m., at St. Lawrence Church, Weehawken, for Edward Michael Keating, 84, of Weehawken. He passed away Aug. 2, just three months after the death of his wife Clara.
Edward was the fourth of five children of John Keating and Florence McMahon Keating of Belmont Avenue, Jersey City. He was born in 1930 and was predeceased by his sisters Mary, of Tinton Falls, and Augusta Jane, of New York City, and his close brothers John, (“Jackie”) and Jim, both of Jersey City.
Known as “Doc” by his friends, Edward went to St. Patrick’s, playing countless hours of basketball, street games, and sandlot ball with friends from St. Peter’s Prep, St. Aloysius, and Lincoln High School, where he graduated in 1949. He was a talented second basemen and once in an early 1950s amateur league game went 2-for-3 against Johnny Kucks, who later pitched in the 1956 World Series.
Ed paid his way for college studies in Jersey City by loading trucks in Newark and working as a longshoreman in Hoboken, where he had the chance to take photos of Marlon Brando during filming of “On the Waterfront.” He met the love of his life, fellow student Clara Quaglieri, (“Bunny”, born on Easter). Ed took her to the Brooklyn Paramount to see Little Richard and James Brown. They married and eventually settled in Weehawken in 1961, and lived on the same street until their passing.
Ed obtained his insurance certificate and began a long professional career in the brokerage business, assisting industrial clients in managing risk and then in negotiating losses.
He travelled 100,000 miles per year for years, worldwide and apparently to all 50 states.
His last employer became Aon, on the World Trade Center’s 100th floor. He specialized in complex industrial coverage in Nuclear Energy and Aviation, including Rockwell International’s Space Shuttle. In the 1970s he trained at MIT in nuclear risk management, and was called to Three Mile Island in 1979 during the crisis to analyze the incident. His WTC office was largely unharmed during the 1993 bombing. He still consulted at the WTC offices after his retirement, and mourned the loss of almost every one of his Aon colleagues on Sept. 11, 2001.
Edward also became involved in public life in the 1980s. After the Township of Weehawken was rocked by political corruption and fiscal disaster, Edward joined a group of concerned citizens in the nonpartisan reform of Weehawken municipal government and promotion of sound policy, fiscal stability, and accountability. This accident would lead to the proudest association of his life: public service with kindred souls to his home of Weehawken until the end of his life. He enthusiastically lent his efforts to serve the Planning Board, Board of Adjustment, the Township Insurance Committee, and the North Hudson Sewer Authority. He advised multiple municipalities on risk management through joint meetings and the Executive Statewide Insurance Fund.
He loved to be of help and over 30 years saved Weehawken millions of dollars in insurance costs, and helped neighbors pro bono. He also served as Councilman-at-Large for three terms from 1986-1998, with a keen effort toward renewal of Boulevard East, and responsible waterfront growth. He later served as Risk Manager, and was advising on insurance matters well into his eighties.
Edward’s was an intellect of restless curiosity, and he had many passions. In his retirement years, with his brother Jim, Ed became a student of family genealogy, traveling to Ireland, Scotland, England, and Wales for family research. He was a lifelong sports fan, was at the legendary Giants-Colts game in 1958, and never missed UConn Women’s Basketball or any game of Elena Delle Donne’s. He loved jazz from his teens, especially Stan Kenton, Erroll Garner, and Slim Gaillard; he also loved Lloyd Price, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, The Beatles, and The Band; he collected art, and classic and foreign cinema.
He was a constant traveler, crossed the Atlantic on both the Concorde and on the QEII, and loved connecting travel with history. He read voraciously, especially nonfiction such as the work of his friend, historian Tom Fleming, who visited Weehawken on the 200th anniversary of the Burr-Hamilton duel in 2004. He loved PBS’s “Frontline,” and “Masterpiece Theatre” programming from the early 1970s until today. He was always game for visits to grandkids, whether to Blairstown, Washington State, North Carolina, or to Kings Point, Boston College, the Jersey Shore, or to their recitals, plays, or sporting events. He loved attending Weehawken parades and ceremonies with Bunny, and missed her terribly. They renewed their vows at her bedside.
Ed and Clara were married 59 years, and he is survived by their three sons: his son, Michael and his spouse Denise Keating, with grandsons Jesse and Jake Keating, of Blairstown; son Anthony and his spouse Elizabeth, with grandsons Nathaniel and William, and granddaughter Cara, of Weehawken; son Steven and spouse Cynthia, with granddaughter Katharine of Alexandria, Virginia.
He also spent his last weeks praying for his extended family of Keatings, Dorseys, Kellys, Kouris, McMahons, and Filgates and Mohammeds; including his sister Mary’s daughter, Shannon, and her daughter Erin Falco, husband Gary and grandson Jackson; Shannon’s daughter Danielle and son Colin and their father Michael Kouri; Mary’s sons Jim and Robbie (deceased); Ed’s brother Jackie’s daughter Mary Florence Dorsey, husband Albert, and their daughter Caroline and her husband Micah; their daughter Jane and granddaughter Juliet, and their sons Albert IV and Patrick; Jackie’s sons, John Joseph (deceased), and James Patrick, wife Lourdes, and their daughter Caitlin, and Ed’s Filgate cousins, and Maureen Mohammed and her family.
He is further survived by Clara’s niece Donna Lefebvre and spouse Dave of Toms River, and her grandson Daniel Suarez and his spouse Erin and their daughter Madeline, and Nikki and Tony Lefebvre; and niece Roberta Bannon and spouse George of Jackson, and their children, Lisa and Nicole Marvel.
Ed is also survived by Clara’s Quaglieri and Schwab cousins, including Gerry, Arlene, Nancy, Lynn, Joseph and Frances; Esther and Ciara and their father Paul Lopes; Philip, Anthony and Francis, and nieces and nephews, and oldest friends Gene and Marge Lenahan, and many friends. For those desiring, donations may be made to the Weehawken First Aid Squad.
Funeral visitation will be at the Leber Funeral Home, 2000 Kennedy Boulevard, Union City,
from 2-4 and 7-9 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 9.