Edward Jennison

Edward (Ted) Jennison was born in Bangor, Maine on April 3, 1926. Ted was a veteran, a talented actor, designer, builder, successful businessman and proud father. He joined the U.S. Army when he was 18 and served during the end of World War II. He later received a BA degree in Theatre from the University of Maine at Orono in 1950.

After graduating from college, Ted became a teaching fellow in the theatre department at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts from 1951 to 1952. His mother, Dorothy, was a Smith graduate. As Smith was (and is) for women only, and Dorothy had only sons, no one expected her children to attend. But Ted’s job as a teaching fellow carried on her legacy. At Smith, Ted met his first wife, Margaret “Peggy” Bond, who was a theatre major. They had four children together and were married for 34 years.

Though Peggy and Ted had originally planned to build careers in theatre, Ted accepted an executive training position with the Bangor & Aroostook Railroad shortly before he and Peggy married, setting in motion his successful career as a consultant to the nation’s railroads. His first consulting position was at Wyer Dick & Co. in Montclair, NJ. He later moved to Snavely King & Associates in Morristown, NJ and spent the last 8 years of his career as an independent consultant. He was an advisor and expert witness in traffic, cost and financial matters. He was a lead witness in some of the nation’s most important railroad bankruptcy and antitrust cases. His testimony was often cited by judges as critical in the successful decisions for his clients.

In 1987, Ted and Peg divorced, and he married his second wife, Isabelle Elizabeth “Betty” Russell Hunger. Ted and Betty had been sweethearts as undergraduates at the University of Maine but lost touch over the years. After they reunited and were married, Ted and Betty split their time between Marana, Arizona and Rangeley, Maine, Betty’s home town. They had been married for 20 years at the time of Betty’s death in 2017 at the age of 87.

Ted was living in Seattle, WA at Merrill Gardens at First Hill when he passed away at the age of 95.

Ted is survived by four children, two step-children, 11 grandchildren and 8 greatgrandchildren: Susan Jennison Dougherty, a retired lawyer, lives in Langhorne, PA with her husband, Rich Dougherty; Sara Jennison Perri, a nurse, lives in Flemington, NJ, and has six children and eight grandchildren; Judy Jennison, a partner at the law firm of Perkins Coie, lives in Seattle, WA with her husband, Lawson Reinsch; Andy Jennison, a film editor, lives in Rutherford, NJ and has two children; Suzanne Hunger, an administrator, lives in Havre, Montana and has one child; and Carolyn Hunger Schwalbe, an educator, lives in Aliquippa, PA with her husband John Schwalbe, and has two children.

Ted’s ashes will be interred at Mount Hope Cemetery with his parents in Bangor, ME at his request.