Edward John Comeau, born October 11, 1933, in Boston, MA, died August 3, 2025, in Ann Arbor, MI, aged 91, after a long, happy, and healthy life following a brief illness.
Edward Comeau never went by “Edward”—to those who knew and loved him he was either Ed, Dad, or Grampy. Ed and Anne, his wife of 60 years, grew up in the Belmont and Watertown neighborhoods of Boston. Ed’s parents were Edward Comeau and Mary Sheehan.
The Depression and World War II shaped Ed’s early life, as it did for many children of the Silent Generation. As teenagers, Anne Bradley and her friend Sara Lockwood met “Eddie” while they worked at F. W. Woolworth’s in Cushing Square. Their friendship lasted to the present day, more than 70 years. High school in Boston in the big-band era meant proms, with bands like the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra coming through regularly. There are several great photos of Ed and different dates in formal dress.
Following high school, Ed joined the Air Force with plans to further his education under the G.I. Bill. From 1952 to 1956, he served on active duty with the 95 th Bomb Squadron, 17th Bomb Group, including deployment to the Korean War. Ed earned the rank of Staff Sargeant. He served an additional four years as an Air Force reservist.
Following his military service, Ed married Anne Marie Bradley on May 25, 1957. He then enrolled in Boston University’s College of Business Administration and was invited to join Beta Gamma Sigma. Upon graduation, he was recruited by Ford Motor Co. In fact, Sara and her husband Arthur Armstrong were the “pull” that brought Ed and Anne to Michigan. During the next 30 years, he held financial analysis positions across the company. Beginning at the Wixom Assembly Plant—where Thunderbirds and Lincolns were rolling off the line—to Buenos Aires, Argentina—where Falcons and other small cars were in demand— Ed honed his financial planning and communication skills. Ed and Anne made time to explore the regions in which they lived—one memorable vacation included driving an “expedition-equipped” Ford Fairlane through the Pampas and Patagonia, across the Straits of Magellan to Ushuaia, in Tierra Del Fuego—the end of the road.
Returning stateside to Philadelphia in the 1970s and then to Chelsea, MI, in the 1980s, Ed’s career with Ford took him to World Headquarters in Dearborn. His professional travel extended to Japan and Korea, where he developed a love for collecting Japanese noh and Korean hahoetal theatrical masks. These masks and the art he and Anne collected on their travels were Ed’s great pride in every home in which he lived.
Ed’s family life was as important to him as his career, and after years of traveling and working abroad, he and Anne chose to settle in the village (now city) of Chelsea to continue raising their four daughters. The transition to country life suited Ed just fine. He put down roots in Chelsea, volunteering for more than twenty years at St. Mary Catholic Church and pursuing his passions: photography, genealogy—including researching his Acadian heritage, bicycling with the Ann Arbor Bicycle Touring Society, leisure travel, on-again/off-again restoration of a 1954 red Ford F-100 pickup truck, and quality time inculcating his grandchildren with his Boston accent (to the shock and horror of their Midwest parents).
In retirement, Ed and Anne returned to their adventurous ways, traveling to Australia, New Zealand, Paris, Burgundy, Japan, Ireland, Acadia, Nova Scotia, Vancouver, California, and finally to Hawaii to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary.
Ed and Anne’s legacy is valuing education. Both worked to foster a love of learning in their daughters, to make schools in their community better, and to provide resources for the higher education of their children and grandchildren.
Ed is survived by daughters Cynthia Comeau Divitto, Margaret Comeau Delaney (Brian), Sarah Jeanne Comeau Proegler (David), Laura Anne Brown (Paul); grandchildren Zoe (Christian Graf), Matthew, and Bennett Proegler, Nathan, Henry and Spencer Brown; niece Susan Sylligardos; great-nephew Alexander Chang; cousins Joan and David Sheehan; sister-in-law Jo-Anne Collis; life-long friend Sara Lockwood Armstrong King.
Ed was preceded in death by his wife Anne, daughter Allison, sister and brother-in-law Jeanne and Jim Sylligardos, brother Richard, and good friend and coworker Al Grant.
The family would like to thank the nurses and staff at Hillside Terrace Memory Care and Elara Caring Hospice for their attentive care.
Expressions of sympathy may be made to Ozone House, helping Washtenaw County youth in crisis, and Food Gatherers, the food bank and food rescue program serving Washtenaw County. Ed valued these organizations’ commitment to ensuring local youth have the foundation they need in order to learn.
Visitation will take place Saturday, August 9, 2025, at 11:00 a.m. at the Staffan-Mitchell Funeral Home in Chelsea, with a memorial service following at noon. Interment will be at Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Chelsea.
