Edward F. Eagan III, M.D.

Born: August 20, 1941
Died: December 10, 2019

Dr. Edward F. Eagan, III, M.D. of Dover, New Hampshire, died on December 10, 2019. He was 78 years old. Born in Lynn, Massachusetts in 1941, Ed attended St. John’s Prep, Yale University, and Tufts University School of Medicine, and specialized in ophthalmology.

At Yale, Ed was a history major and a member of Trumbull and of Phi Gamma Delta. He competed on the Freshman football and Track teams (numerals in both) and on the Varsity football team in 1959. Subsequently, Ed played on the Trumbull football, hockey, baseball and softball teams.

After earning his M.D. degree from Tufts, Ed did his internship at Saint Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Boston, followed by residency training at Manhattan Eye and Ear in New York. During his med school years, he married Kathleen Ann Minihane.

Ed and Kathleen envisioned a life surrounded by boats, mountains, and nature and in 1970 the couple moved to Seacoast, New Hampshire where they raised their three daughters and son. He opened his private practice in Dover, where he worked for 35 years. As an ophthalmologist, Ed regularly performed cataract surgery. He would often remark how improving his patients eyesight and their quality of life felt deeply rewarding to him.

Ed was an artist, a sportsman, and an adventurer. He loved exploring the world and bringing his family along for the ride. He enjoyed fly fishing and traveling with his fishing buddies. In the summertime Ed drove his boat “Munumunum” and frequently took friends and family water skiing and on sunset cruises. He could often be found painting watercolor landscape while the tunes of Frank Sinatra played in the background. Ed loved to collect old Americana signs and hang them in his Tuftonboro home on the shores of Lake Winnipesaukee. One of his favorites reads: “These are the good old days.”

In our 40th Reunion Book, Ed described his many active hobbies: “I have been able to stay active playing lots of basketball and tennis, but the hinges are showing some signs of rust. I love salmon fishing and bird hunting and traveling to the places where these pastimes take me but then again I enjoy traveling anywhere. I have been painting off and on for a number of years and have been getting into carving more recently.”

Ed leaves behind Kathy, his wife of 54 years, and their children Susan Thurmond, Cynthia Eagan, Julie Adams, and Edward “Ted” Eagan IV; and grandchildren Raegan Thurmond, Gilbert Adams, and Darwin Adams. Also surviving him were his siblings Mary Jane English, Deborah MacLean, and Michael Eagan and nieces and nephews.

R. G. Oliver