Edward Joseph Comolli, 82, of 615 Laurel Lake Drive in Columbus died Tuesday, April 26, 2011.
Born in Barre, Vermont, he was the son of the late Adolfo Comolli and Flora Maroni Comolli. He was a 1946 graduate of Spaulding High School in Barre, where he played on the state champion football and basketball teams. In 1950, he graduated from the University of Vermont, where he played football and was a member of Phi Delta Theta fraternity.
Ed was a proud veteran of the Korean War, serving as a 1st lieutenant in the U.S. Army from 1951-1953. He was wounded in Korea on Heartbreak Ridge and received the Purple Heart.
In 1953, he married Norma Caroline Hale, who predeceased him in 1981. They had two children, Elizabeth Hale Comolli and Thomas Edward Comolli. In 1983, Ed remarried to Joan Hoyt Perry, who died in 2008.
Ed’s lifetime in the Barre granite industry began with Comolli and Company granite manufacturers. For many years, he was manager of the Rock of Ages manufacturing plant, and later joined the Barre Granite Association as manager of cemetery services.
Community service was an integral part of his life. In Vermont, Ed was a charter member of the Barre Jaycees and the Vermont chapter of Ducks Unlimited. He served on the boards of the Green Mountain School for Retarded Children, 4-H Camp Downer, the Barre branch of Merchants Bank, and Hope Cemetery. In North Carolina, he enjoyed working with the Habitat for Humanity crews.
Ed was an avid outdoorsman who loved nothing more than to be in the Vermont or Carolina woods hunting or on the lake fishing. In 1939, he and his father and brother built a camp on Lake Champlain in Swanton, Vt., to which he returned every summer.
Ed was predeceased by his brother, Raymond. Surviving him are his daughter, Elizabeth and husband, Ed LeClair, of Charlotte, Vt.; his son, Thomas and wife, Heather Comolli, of Barre, Vt.; and many dear friends.
A service will be held at 2 p.m. on Sunday, May 1, 2011 at Holy Cross Episcopal Church in Tryon, with a reception following. Burial will be in Hope Cemetery in Barre, Vt., with a service to be planned.
Memorials may be made to Friends of Northern Lake Champlain, P.O. Box 58, Swanton, Vt. 05488, Habitat for Humanity, P.O. Box 626, Tryon, N.C. 28782, or Holy Cross Episcopal Church, P.O. Box 279, Tryon, N.C. 28782.
An online guest register is available at www.mcfarlandfuneralchapel.com.
McFarland Funeral Chapel,Tryon.