Edward J. Michon
Edward J. Michon, 94, of Ipswich, died on Thursday August 23, 2017 at
the Kaplan Family Hospice House, Danvers after a brief illness, leaving
his wife Jane (Sherman) Michon after fifty-eight years of marriage.
Their family included German Shepherd dogs which brought much
companionship and happiness to daily living.
Edward was born in Ipswich on December 25, 1922, the son of Polish
immigrants. He grew up in Ipswich, and graduated from Ipswich High
School as valedictorian of his class of 1940. He was admitted to
Harvard College as a scholarship student. He earned his Bachelor’s
degree in January 1944, one semester ahead of the normal four years, due
to war time accelerated schedule. His next step was U.S. Navel
Midshipman School at Plattsburg, New York, from where he was
commissioned in June 1944 as an amphibious ship officer. Following
brief service on an amphibious landing ship, he was selected by the Navy
for the study of Japanese at the U.S. Navy School of Oriental Languages
at the University of Colorado in Boulder. After a period of study, he
was assigned to serve as interpreter with U.S. Marine Corps units in the
Central and Southern Pacific Ocean, based in Truk, located in the
Caroline Islands, serving until June 30, 1946. Truk was the strongest
and largest naval base in the Pacific, considered Japan’s equivalent of
Gibraltar. Japan stationed over 35,000 troops on the Island groups,
commanded by a lieutenant general and a vice admiral of the Japanese
forces.
As
a student, he developed a penchant for languages. Besides Polish and
English, which he spoke at home, he studied French, Spanish, and Italian
at Harvard and Russian as a naval reserve officer. His favorite
language, however, was Latin which he studied for four years in high
school.
Returning to the United States, he was employed briefly at the U.S.
Department of Commerce in Washington, D.C. as a patent examiner, and
subsequently he entered Columbia Business School in January, 1947 and
earned his MBA degree in 1949. He then began a long career as an
investment manager in New York City, his first jobs beginning on Wall
Street at the firms of Brown Brothers Harriman, and Scudder, Stevens and
Clark. After ten years in New York City, he returned to Ipswich and
continued his investment management career with Naumkeag Trust Company
in Salem, which was acquired by Eastern Bank. He retired from Eastern
Bank as Vice President and Investment Officer at the end of 1990, but
continued with his career with other firms until the end of 2013, thus
completing sixty-four years of continuous service. Pro bono work
included service as a Trustee and Treasurer of Salem Hospital, now part
of North Shore Medical Center, during the years 1970 to 1987, and about
twenty-eight years of volunteer service as a patient visitor. He also
served on the Board of the Salem YMCA, the House of Seven Gables, the
Salem VNA, and Marion Court Junior College in Swampscott. In Ipswich,
he was elected to the School Committee for one term, and also served two
three year terms on the Trust Commission, the latter years as chair, and
on the Board of Cuvilly Arts Center. He also served on the Board of
Harbor School and Family Service of Newbury. After serving active duty
in the Navy, Edward continued his service in the U.S. Naval reserves,
retiring with the rank of Captain in the U.S. Navy as a reserve
officer. During his reserve service, he was selected commanding officer
of the First Division U.S. Naval Reserve Intelligence Division in the
First Naval District for the years of 1966-68. Assumption of Command
exercises were conducted aboard the USS Constitution in Boston Harbor.
During his tour of duty, his division was selected as first in the
nation as measured in training and readiness. He was assigned commanding
officer for another year in a billet whose tenure was usually one year.
His years as Naval Officer included weekly drills plus two weeks of
active duty annually among which he studied at the Naval War College in
Newport, RI, and at the Foreign Service Institute at the State
Department in Washington, D.C. After completing two years of service as
commanding officer of the Intelligence Unit, Edward was appointed to
serve as a member of the U.S. Naval Intelligence Counseling Board of the
First Naval District. The function of the Board was to advise naval
officers seeking to work in the Intelligence service.
Personally, Edward enjoyed classical music and especially the Opera
while living in New York City, as well as reading poetry and history.
His predilection for languages provided opportunities for learning the
culture, history and traditions of many empires. A few of his favorites
included the Psalms, Virgil’s Aeneid (in Latin), Grey’s Elegy,
Shakespeare’s King Lear, Tennyson’s Crossing the Bar, and Robert Frost’s
poem, The Road Less Traveled. AVE ATQUE VALE
His
funeral service with Naval Honors will be held 11 am Thursday, August 31
graveside in the Cowles Memorial Cemetery, Town Farm Road, Ipswich.
Family and friends are respectfully welcomed. Arrangements are under the
direction of the Whittier-Porter Funeral Home of Ipswich. Memorial
contributions in his memory may be made to the charity of one’s choice.
