Edward Francis Striegel

Edward Francis Striegel, a retired Navy and corporate pilot, loving husband of the late Mary Striegel and devoted father of 11, grandfather of 26 and great grandfather of 19, died peacefully April 8, 2026, in his home in the Waterford retirement community in Juno Beach, Florida. He was 100. Born to Edward Aloysius and Augustine Marie Dontenwill Striegel on Aug. 19, 1925, Edward, the elder brother of Frank and Anne, grew up playing baseball, ice hockey and tennis in the City of Buffalo. He was an altar boy at his parish and enjoyed visiting the farm of his grandparents Lawrence and Clara Ann Knab Striegel in Gardenville, West Seneca. And from a young age, he was fascinated by airplanes. In March 1943, as World War II raged, Ed, just 17 and a senior at Amherst Central High School, took the Empire Express train on a free military ticket from Buffalo to Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan. He traveled alone for the one-day trip and checked into the YMCA on Broadway. “I was just a young kid, and I wanted to fly planes,” he recalled 80 years later. After four days of academic and medical testing, he was deemed eligible for Navy V-5 pilot training. On March 27, he raised his right hand and took the oath of military service. While awaiting orders that summer, Ed worked the 3 p.m.-to-midnight shift in a hangar at the Curtiss-Wright factory at Buffalo Airport. They built P-40 Warhawk fighters and C-46 Commando transport planes. Ed installed protective armor plate behind pilot seats and taxied finished warplanes to a holding area. He also took his first plane rides in a local flight instructor's Piper Cub. In late August, he was ordered to report to Hobart College in Geneva, N.Y. As a Navy cadet, Ed took classes and wore a bell-bottomed sailor’s uniform. After a year, his fighter-pilot training took him to St. Mary’s College in Monterey, California; Ottumwa, Iowa, where he trained in Stearman biplanes; Norman, Oklahoma; Corpus Christi, Texas; and finally Pensacola, Florida, where Ensign Edward F. Striegel was awarded naval aviator diploma on October 18, 1946. By then, he was 21, and the war was over for a year. Ed returned to Buffalo and enrolled at Canisius College, majoring in chemistry and graduating in 1949. During that time, he served in the Naval Air Reserve squadron at U.S. Naval Air Station, Niagara Falls, flying single-engine Hellcat fighter planes. He also courted Mary Elizabeth Twist, a physician’s daughter from the west side of Buffalo. He was taken by her piercing blue eyes -- and once took her up in a plane. Mary attended Buffalo State Teacher’s College for two years, studied at a business school and took an office job at a company that made Frigidaire refrigerators. Ed proposed at the Twist home at 310 Norwood Ave. in June, giving her a diamond ring. A couple months later, his squadron was called up as political tensions built on the Korean Peninsula. He reported for active duty at Corpus Christi, Texas, in September. On Dec. 26, 1949, he and Mary exchanged wedding vows in Buffalo. Now married, Ed opted to fly patrol bombers instead of fighter planes. Over the next 11 years, his service would take them to Quonset Point, Rhode Island; Hutchinson, Kansas; St. Simons Island, Georgia; and Monterey and Coronado, California. Ed served as a patrol plane and blimp commander with over 5,000 flight hours. In that time, he and Mary welcomed five daughters and two sons. Completing Navy service in 1960 as a lieutenant, Ed took a job as a corporate pilot for the Bendix Corp. at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey. The family moved into a seven-bedroom home in nearby Hasbrouck Heights, and they welcomed three more sons and a daughter by 1967. During 33 years in Hasbrouck Heights, the children were educated before college at Corpus Christi School and Paramus Catholic High School. The family enjoyed the Hasbrouck Heights Swim Club, where Ed was a board president, and trips to Jones Beach on Long Island. Ed spent many weekends renovating the family's big home while listening to Fighting Irish games on the radio. He also attained a law degree through a mail correspondence course. In 1981, Mary received her bachelor of arts degree in English from Felician College in Lodi. In his flying career, Ed was a chief pilot for Bendix, Crum & Forster Insurance, Xerox Corp., and later was an examiner for Flight Safety Inc. He was listed in the 1983 edition of Who's Who in Aviation and also that year received a pilot safety award from the National Business Aircraft Association Inc. for having commanded aircraft flying 4,225,160 plane miles without accident. Ed would often smile and advise, "Your landings should always equal your takeoffs." Ed and Mary retired to Jupiter, Florida, in 1983 and enjoyed travel, family visits, and walks on the beach. Ed began each day with a mile swim in their condominium community pool, and he also played tennis. They were members of St. Patrick Church in Palm Beach Gardens. They relocated to the Waterford in Juno Beach in 2008. Mary died in 2014 at age 86. Edward is survived by his children and in-laws: daughter Mary Nolan and her husband, Paul Nolan; daughter Anne Striegel; son Edward A. Striegel and his wife, Sheri Bono-Striegel; daughter Dr. Jane Striegel and her husband, Dr. Tyrone Melvin; daughter Alice Higgins and her husband, Dr. Kenneth Higgins; son Lawrence Striegel and his wife, Bonnie Hede Striegel; daughter Margaret Roberts and her husband, Douglas Roberts; son Thomas Striegel and his wife, Maureen Harzinski; son Joseph Striegel and his wife, Diane Striegel; daughter Judith McHargue and her husband, Willie McHargue; and son Gresham Striegel and his wife, Juliann Anastasi Striegel. He is predeceased by his brother and sister, and by his first grandchild, David Nolan. His surviving grandchildren include Louise Nolan (mother of Seve and Max); Mark Nolan; Matthew Striegel and his wife, Shelby Striegel (parents of Grace, Ethan and Tanner); Meaghan David and her husband, John David (parents of Audrey and Sofia); Emily Bono and her fiance, Owen Mitchell; Michael Melvin; Katherine Peden and her husband, Dr. Sean Peden (parents of Charlotte, Alice and Rhys); Dr. Joseph Melvin and his wife, Ashley Melvin (parents of Colette, Madeline and Edith); Thomas Melvin and his wife, Kristen Cooper (parents of Matthew and Theodore); Claire Melvin and her husband, Erich Hehn (parents of Frances and Hattie); Mark Melvin and his partner, Grace Howard; Dr. James Higgins and his wife, Alexandra Higgins (parents of Russell); Collette Higgins and her husband, Seve Sheldon (parents of Beverly); Dr. Hayley Striegel; Brennan Striegel; Samuel Striegel; Clare Striegel; Dr. Sydney Striegel and her husband, Dr. Samuel Burch; Connor Striegel; Lucy McHargue; Brady McHargue; Julia Striegel-Schutte and her husband, Zachary Schutte; Stephen Striegel and his partner, Pratikshya Mohanty; Sean Striegel and his fiancee, Sarah Eastman; Owen Striegel. Friends will be received from 3 to 6 p.m. Monday, April 13, at Taylor & Modeen Funeral Home, 250 Center St., Jupiter, Florida. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at St. Patrick Church, 13591 Prosperity Farms Rd., Palm Beach Gardens, at 11 a.m. Tuesday, April 14. A burial service with military honors will follow at the South Florida National Cemetery in Lake Worth. Memorial donations may be made to the Discalced Carmelites, an order of nuns at the Carmelite Monastery, 189 Madison Avenue, Morristown, N.J. 07960.

Edward Francis Striegel

August 19, 1925 - April 8, 2026