Edward Michael Gormley's Obituary
Edward Michael Gormley, 83, of Palm Coast, FL passed away at AdventHealth Medical Center in Palm Coast in the presence of his family following a medical emergency at his home the previous day. Ed was born in Detroit, Michigan on March 19, 1940, the younger son of Jack and Evelyn Gormley.
Ed attended Campion Jesuit High School in Prairie du Chien, WI with his older brother, John, from 1954 - 1958 where he excelled at sports, particularly football. He later attended the University of Detroit (“The Big D”) after which he served in the U.S. Army in Germany as a Lieutenant from 1963 – 1965.
Ed married Sharon Hunt of Gross Pointe Woods, MI on June 15, 1963 in Germany and they started their family there with the births of daughters Janet Marie (m. McLaughlin) in 1964 and Patricia Ann (m. Cartwright) in 1965. Upon their return to the U.S., Ed was employed with the Ford Motor Company in Dealership Development, briefly in Detroit, then in San Jose, CA where daughter Kathleen Mary (m. Ouellette) and son Edward Michael, Jr. were born, and finally in Acton, MA where daughter Elizabeth Marguerite was born. Ed then spent five years with Hyundai Motor Corp. of America in Cranberry, NJ, living in nearby Colts Neck, NJ, before finishing his automobile career with Morande Acura in Berlin, CT, living in Glastonbury, CT from 1992 before retiring to Palm Coast, FL in 2004.
Ed played a great game of golf and loved watching all sports. While living in Glastonbury, CT, he and Sharon became rabid fans of the UConn Lady Huskies basketball program and travelled the country to watch them play in several national championships. He would occasionally hire graduating senior players to do promotional work for the car dealership and his office was literally a shrine to the Lady Huskies basketball program, with life-size cardboard cut-outs of star players and lots of tournament memorabilia.
Ed had a mischievous sense of humor that entertained friends and family and, occasionally, complete strangers. He was extremely grateful to have married “his beautiful Sharon” and was proud of his five adult children and ten grandchildren through whose lives he lived vicariously. Janet McLaughlin and husband, Keith, of Wrentham, MA, Patricia Cartwright and husband, Andrew, of Ridgefield, CT, Kathleen Ouellette and husband, Matthew, of South Berwick, ME, Edward Gormley, Jr. of Winthrop, MA, and Elizabeth Gormley of Provincetown, MA. Grandchildren Matthew McLaughlin, Jake McLaughlin, Aidan McLaughlin, Stephen Cartwright, Emily Cartwright, Madeline Cartwright, Grace Cartwright, Emma Ouellette, and Samuel Ouellette. Ed was predeceased by his grandson, Brian Patrick McLaughlin in Norfolk, MA in 2001.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be said at Santa Maria del Mar Catholic Church, 915 North Central Avenue, Flagler Beach, FL on Thursday March 30, 2023 at 11 am. Donations in his memory can be made to Tunnels to Towers Foundation at: https://t2t.org/donate/
Heritage Funeral and Cremation Service of Bunnell, FL is assisting the family with arrangements.
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