Obituary of Edward Dante Marlowe

Edward Dante Marlowe of Ivoryton, Connecticut, ended this life’s journey peacefully and, as he wished, in his home on April 2, 2020. He often recounted the circumstances of his birth, happening two months prematurely at home in 1930 in Cleveland, Ohio. A doctor suggested to his mother that he would die soon and offered to take him and dispose of his body. He survived only because his mother decided to keep and feed him with an eye dropper. Raised during the depression, he had many jobs before he was 14, including delivering newspapers, working at concession stands at racetracks, plucking chicken feathers, and caddying on public golf courses. He went to a 59-student high school in Chagrin Falls, Ohio. As a teen, he wanted to become an industrial arts teacher because he had great teacher who taught him woodcarving. From 14 to 21, he worked for Bob Manners, (which became the Manners Big Boy Restaurant chain) and then started a restaurant operation called Charkies, specializing in Hot Dogs, which Manners then bought out. He jokingly described himself as “the hot dog king of Cleveland.” He opted out of the industrial arts and restaurant worlds and instead attended Kent State University, majoring in sales engineering. He succeeded in the motion-controls industry having worked in various capacities for New England Gear Works, Strong Carlisle and Hammond and General Time Corporation until the late 1960s when he founded a new business, Inertia Dynamics, in Canton, Connecticut. The company developed and sold electro-magnetic clutches and brakes to technology customers, and introduced and patented a scientific instrument which measures the inertia of rotating objects. In 1985, when the company had more than 260 employees, he sold it to Exxon Corporation and retired shortly thereafter. The company remains a successful business today in a new facility in New Hartford. Ed and his first wife, Sally Marlowe, raised four cherished children. Those children gifted him with nine treasured grandchildren and seven great grandchildren, with another due in May. In 1993, he married Barbara Sarrantonio. He liked to joke that he married one of his lawyers because he couldn’t afford to pay legal fees. Since their marriage, they have lived happily in their home on the Falls River Mill Pond in Ivoryton, Connecticut. Ed was the impetus and driving force for the restoration of the Mill Pond, which had fallen victim to invasive weeds. Today the pond is pristine, populated by beautiful fauna and providing recreational opportunities to the general public. Before Parkinson’s Disease cruelly robbed him of his abilities, he loved boating, golfing, dancing, travel, fine dining out and at home, parties, and talking, talking, talking. His charm gave him the ability to sell anything to anyone in a short time. He was a member of the Collinsville Savings Society Board, Essex Rotary Club, Essex Yacht Club, and Pettipaug Yacht Club. Ed was predeceased by several siblings and his beloved son, Christian. He is survived by his loving wife, Barbara; his brother Rudy and sister Mary; his children and their spouses/partners: Mark and Mary Marlowe of West Simsbury, Connecticut; Melinda Marlowe Wodatch and James Butler of Paris, Virginia; Seth Marlowe and Diana Peach of Knoxville, Tennessee; his grandchildren and their spouses/partners: Colin and Lauren Marlowe, John Marlowe, Nathan and Hayley Marlowe, Heather and Thomas Ewen, Sally and Gabriel Tipton, Amy and Kenneth Derrickson, Rebecca Wodatch and Melinda (Minnie) Wodatch/Ryan Healey; Noah Marlowe; his great-grandchildren: Ethan and Jameson Marlowe, William Ewen, Elias, Emelia and Ezra Tipton, and Marlowe Healey. In view of current circumstances, a private burial will take place in the River View Cemetery in Essex at the convenience of the family, with a memorial celebration at a later date. Those wishing to make a memorial donation may consider The Valley- Shore YMCA Delay the Disease Program, P.O. Box 694, 201 Spencer Plains Rd., Westbrook, CT 06498 or the Essex Land Trust’s Mill Pond Account, P.O. Box 373, Essex, CT 06426. To share a memory of Ed or send a condolence to his family please visit www.rwwfh.com . Arrangements by the Robinson, Wright & Weymer Funeral Home in Centerbrook.