Edward J. Egan, Jr.

Edward J. Egan, Jr. of Stuart, Florida passed away on Feb. 13, 2007 at the age of 86. He was the devoted husband of the late Margaret T. Egan who died January 20, 2002. Egan was born on January 8, 1921 and lived in Manhasset until he retired from Grumman Aerospace in 1982. He attended both Plandome Road and Manhasset high schools.

Egan was fourth generation Manhasset, his grandfather came to build the train trestle, and Egan became involved in the early development of lacrosse in the area. In 1932, Jason "Stranny" Stranahan came to Manhasset, and a lacrosse tradition began. At that time, Eddie Egan was just 11 and played "midget" lacrosse against such schools as Green Vale, Friends Academy and later, Garden City. In 1936, Egan played varsity lacrosse as a freshman and participated in a lacrosse rivalry now called the Woodstick Classic. Through high school he played Brooklyn schools such as Alexander Hamilton, Boys High, Poly Prep, New York Military Academy and the only two Long Island teams, Garden City and Sewanhaka. In his senior year of 1939, he was named All-Scholastic-Metropolitan and Long Island - and led the league in scoring.

In 1946, after he served in the Army during WW II, many high school friends wanted to play lacrosse and decided to form the Manhasset Alumni Lacrosse Club with 'Stranny" as their coach. The Alumni Club played such colleges as Dartmouth, Princeton, Union, West Point, Rutgers, City College and clubs such as Crescent Club and Montclair. They even played the Onondaga Indians, drawing many Manhasset fans. During two seasons that Ed Egan played for the Alumni, the team went undefeated until a game against Army when they lost 11 - 10. The Alumni Club drew record crowds in Manhasset and they would charge a fee to watch the game with proceeds going to other sports clubs and socials that were held at the Munsey Park Center. He played lacrosse at a time when the sport was new but all spectators and participants were passionate about the game and it was the beginning of the history of Manhasset Lacrosse. Egan was inducted in the Manhasset Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1997. In addition to lacrosse, he was a volunteer fireman for Manhasset-Lakeville Fire District Company #1 for 29 years and was a captain from 1964-1966. He was very proud and truly loved his small hometown of Manhasset where he raised his four children.

Egan is survived by his son, Jimmy, of Oceanside; two daughters, Margaret Hunter of Palm City, FL, and Lynn Cannon of Boca Raton, FL; eight grandchildren; and his sister Joan Chavtur of San Jose, CA; Egan is predeceased by his brother Sherman; his son Kevin and grandson Kevin, Jr.

In the Manhasset High School yearbook, class of 1939, under his class picture it states "silent men go far." This quotation perfectly described Eddie Egan throughout his life.

A memorial service was held on Feb. 23, 2007 at Forest Hills Funeral Home in Palm City, FL.

The information and photograph were provided by Edward Egan's daughter, Lynn Cannon.