Edward D. Harrison Jr., a resident of Wilmington for more than 70 years, died peacefully on October 30, 2026. He would have turned 99 on December 3.
He was born in 1927 and raised in Medford, where he graduated from Medford High School with the class of 1945. He enlisted in the United States Army and served overseas in the Philippines at the end of World War II, then came home and earned a bachelor’s degree from Boston University in 1951.
He married Audrey Shaffer on September 10, 1949, and in 1953 they settled in Wilmington, where they raised four children. He was a member of the Wilmington Congregational Church and of the Masonic Lodge, and he spent much of his working life as a parts manager, for Power Equipment and for C.N. Wood.
He bowled, golfed, tried his luck at scratch tickets and Keno, traveled, and with Audrey kept a house that was open to friends and neighbors. Summers meant Lake Ossipee and winters meant Sanibel Island. His family says nothing pleased him more than a gathering of his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
He leaves his children, Edward Harrison III and his wife, Dolly, MaryJane Langone and her husband, Joseph, and Beth Hoehn and her husband, Rich; 14 grandchildren, Kristin Robinson and her husband, Mike, Jaclyn Harrison, Edward Harrison IV, Michael Harrison and his wife, Bree, Joseph Langone and his wife, Carly, Jennifer Smith and her husband, Matthew, Kristie Langone and Shaun O’Hearn, Kara Blais, Erin Harrison, Paige Gadell and her husband, Greg, Richard Hoehn and his husband, Chad, Jonathan Hoehn and his wife, Alexandra, and Alex Hoehn and Janelle White; 21 great-grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews. His wife, Audrey; his son John Harrison, whose wife, Kathleen, survives; his parents, Edward and Marion (Sukefoth) Harrison; and his siblings, Richard Harrison, Robert Harrison and Marilyn MacDonald, died before him.
Visiting hours will be held Monday, November 9, 2026 at 9 a.m. at the Wilmington Congregational Church, 220 Middlesex Avenue, followed by a funeral service at 10 a.m. and interment with military honors at Wildwood Cemetery. Memorial donations may be made to the Nevins Nursing and Rehabilitation Center at nevinsfamily.org. Arrangements are by the Nichols Funeral Home, Wilmington.
Compiled from information published by Nichols Funeral Home, 187 Middlesex Avenue, Wilmington. Photograph courtesy of the family via Nichols Funeral Home. This is our own summary, not the family’s obituary; read the full obituary and leave a condolence at the funeral home’s page on Legacy.com. Corrections: we will fix any error promptly.
