Edward A. Wollensak

5/1/1936 – 8/28/2025

Ed Wollensak of Newport/Newbury, NH, with a life well lived, died Thursday, August 28, 2025 at Cheshire Medical Center in Keene, NH. His last days were filled with laughter and stories from his three daughters, who will miss him dearly.

Edward Arthur Wollensak was born in Rochester, NY on May 1, 1936, the son of Andrew and Marguerite Wollensak. His big brothers Dick and Jack welcomed him, and his younger sister Andrea joined the family a few years later. Ed attended Aquinas Institute of Rochester, NY and Fort Schuyler Merchant Marine Academy, Bronx, New York City. Following the Academy, the Air Force brought Ed to Highlands, NJ, where he met the love of his life, Sally. Sally passed in 2013, the two having had 53 years of wonderful marriage.

With a career beginning in Rochester at Wollensak Optical, the company Ed’s family started in 1899, his life in precision optics brought him to NH in 1978. Similar to the optics he worked with, Ed was precise, organized, always on time, and led a thoroughly planned life. With his typical wittiness, he shared during his final days in the hospital “this was not on my agenda.”

Ed was happiest outdoors–whether spending summer days picking cherries in the orchards along Lake Ontario with his siblings, paddling through the Adirondacks as a boy, or schussing down mountains from Germany to New England. He taught his girls to swim, ski, skate, an appreciation for gardening, a love for photography, and how to do boondoggle (a craft he learned in the boy scouts). Knot-tying was a quiet thread that ran through his life–securing tarps with the perfect hitch, weaving Turk’s-head knot baskets by hand, or crafting macramé during the 1970s, a hobby he picked up again in his 80s. His creativity was shared with many.

Ed loved “his girls” and their families: Gretchen W. Vagos, her husband Manny and their daughter Hannah; Jenny W. Lussier and her husband Bob; Kate W. Freeborn, her husband Jim, their son Luke and daughter Mae. The family offers sincere gratitude for the extraordinary care he received for many years from the White River Junction VA in Vermont and the staff at Cheshire Medical Center in his final days. His dear friends, members of the Newbury Beautification Committee, and the “Gazebo Geezers” in Newbury, who generously gave their time and continued friendship after moving to Summercrest, in Newport, NH. They also thank the staff and residents–his Summercrest family–who made this past year one of new friendships and great care.

The funeral mass is scheduled for 11:00am, Saturday, September 20 at Our Lady of Fatima Church, 724 Main St, New London, NH. All are welcome to attend and celebrate Ed’s life. Should you choose, in lieu of flowers, please send donations to the VA Voluntary Service, 215 North Main St., White River Junction, VT 05009 or t0

NEHSA (New England Healing Sports Association) PO Box 2135, 180 Mount Sunapee Rd. Newbury, NH 03255, www.nehsa.org/support-us

To sign an online guestbook, please visit www.chadwickfuneralservice.com.