Edward Philip Hamilton Dear

Edward Philip Hamilton Dear (Ed) died on New Year’s Day, surrounded by his family. He was 91. Ed was born in Lausanne, Switzerland, on January 23, 1932, the only child of the late David Philip Dear and Frances deGray Mount Dear. He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Deborah Ingwersen Dear, of StoneRidge, Mystic, Connecticut. He is also survived by his four children, Catherine Dear Ganung (Robert) of Watertown, CT, Charles Dear (Pamela) of Guilford, CT, David Dear (Victoria) of Westport, CT, and John Andrew Dear (Ruth) of Newburyport, MA. Ed has eight grandchildren: Elisabeth Ganung Mendez (Andres), Ted Ganung (Danielle), Philip Dear (Liz), Adam Dear (Anne), Megan Dear, Christina Dear, Leigha Dear, Sydney Dear; and four great-granddaughters: Amara Ganung, Cordelia Ganung, Ixchel Mendez and Ximena Mendez.

Ed graduated from The Hill School in 1950 and Yale University in 1954, majoring in History. After college, he enlisted in the Army at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas. When he finished serving, Ed used his communication skills with various companies. He was a gifted writer with a quick wit and a wry sense of humor. Ed loved being on the cutting edge of technology in all of his jobs and, in the 1970s, started PIERS: Port Import/ Export Reporting Service for the Journal of Commerce. PIERS made global importing and exporting data digital for the first time and enabled Ed to continue experimenting with computers and Prodigy, an early form of the internet.

During his time at Yale, Ed got his pilot’s license and used it to fly people to and from ski resorts in the mountain states. Two of his passions were skiing and sailing. In Switzerland, Ed learned to ski about the same time he learned to walk. His passion for sailing came later, but influenced his choices of towns to live in: Old Greenwich and Stonington, CT. Ed was instrumental in forming the Stonington Harbor Yacht Club in May 2002, after he retired from the Journal of Commerce.

Ed had one of the most remarkable memories. His ability to immediately recall names, places and events was legendary. If you were lucky enough to have him on your Trivial Pursuit team, victory was assured. He was very quiet and humble about his knowledge, preferring to observe the world around him before adding his opinion, correcting a fact, or flooring the room with a one-liner. The twinkle in his eye was an immediate tell that a good story was on his mind. Ed was an incredible gardener, often inspired by the beautiful ceramic pots that Debby made. He grew the healthiest, pinkest geraniums around, spectacular multicolored lupines and could coax giant limes from a single indoor plant.

Ed was fascinated by ancestry, family trees and all things historical. He traced his family on his mother’s side back to the Revolutionary War. After growing up as an only child, he was thrilled to see the legacy of the Dear line continue in his four children, eight grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren. His stories will continue and he will live on in our memories, but his quiet presence will be missed.

There will be a service to celebrate Ed’s life on Saturday, January 20th, at 2:00 p.m. in StoneRidge Senior Living Community, 186 Jerry Browne Road, Mystic, CT 06355.