Edmund Smith McCawley Jr. died in Williamstown on July 18, from complications following pneumonia and a long-term battle with multiple sclerosis.
Born in Philadelphia, Pa., on Oct. 14, 1921, he grew up in Ithan, Pa., and attended Haverford Friends School and the Episcopal Academy. Graduated from Avon Old Farms School in Avon, Conn., in 1940, he received a BS and a commission in the Navy from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1943.
Serving in the Navy during World War II, he was third division officer on the USS Iowa. He transferred to the USS Indiana in 1945 and served as junior division officer in the first division. Participating in all the Pacific campaigns from January 1944 to the end of the war, he received nine battle stars.
Transferred to the USS New Jersey in late 1945, he was released from active duty in April 1946. Recalled in 1951 during the Korean conflict, he served on the USS Los Angeles and was the main battery officer on the USS Quincy. Released to inactive duty in September 1952, he was promoted to lieutenant commander in 1954 and placed on the retired reserve list in 1959.
Employed by Westinghouse Electric in Philadelphia, he soon joined the DuPont Company and served at their Remington Arms Company in Bridgeport, Conn., for 31 years in a variety of management positions.
Mr. McCawley was a member of the fraternity of Delta Psi, the St. Anthony Club, the Racquet Club of Philadelphia, the Gulph Mills Golf Club and the Fairfield Hunt Club and Aubichiwi Skeet Club. Retiring to Martha’s Vineyard in 1983, he joined the West Chop Club and the Mink Meadows Golf Club. He also served on boards of the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital, the First Congregational Church in West Tisbury, Martha’s Vineyard Community Services and was a member of the Tisbury finance committee.
An accomplished artist and writer and for many years an avid golfer, he and his wife, Jan, enjoyed travel, presenting slide talks of their trips at the Vineyard Haven library. His book, Shotguns and Shooting, was published by Van Nostrand Reinhold Company in 1965.
He is survived by his wife, six children and seven grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. on Oct. 19 at the West Tisbury Congregational Church. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Felix Neck Wildlife Trust, P.O. Box 494, Vineyard Haven, MA 02568 (att: Moffett Land Fund).