Northport native Ed Ettinger, 84, of Mystic Connecticut passed away on March 11, 2024. Mr. Ettinger was inducted into the Northport High School Athletic Hall of Fame in the fall of 2017. He is survived by his wife, Gail, and three children, Ed IV, Mark, and Mary. Donations in his memory would be gratefully received by the Westerly Hospital Foundation or the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society, 875 N. Randolph Street, Suit 225, Arlington, VA 22203. Ed Ettinger graduated from Northport High School in 1957 and attended the United States Naval Academy, where he became company commander and pitched and lettered for three years in one of Navy’s most successful baseball teams. Following graduation, he served on two destroyers, qualifying for command. He also served on two submarines. He ‘weighed anchor’ in 1970, and began working for the Coca-Cola Company in technical and sales management, plus managing factory building projects in Ireland and Swaziland. Starting in New York, he moved his family to Atlanta, London, South Africa, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Austria and Turkey, finally retiring in Atlanta. From there he returned home to Mystic. While in Northport, Ed was a strong sports competitor in his high school years. He played at the end on legendary coach John Ryder’s football team and lettered for three years. But where he stood most was on the baseball diamond. He had an undefeated record of 27-0 during the 1954 through 1957 seasons, leading the Tigers to the Suffolk County championship three years in a row. As an aside, Bob Scherer, Andy Haufman, and Ed Ettinger were selected to have tryouts for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Mr. Scherer recalls while they were trying out that he was taken aback by the sound of Mr. Ettinger’s pitches as they hit the catcher’s mitt, echoing through the empty stadium. Bob said it was a testament to the speed at which Ed was throwing. At the Naval Academy, Ed was again a baseball phenom taking the midshipmen to new heights. He was 28-0 over three seasons as part of one its best teams ever.
Commentaires