Edmund Ward Poor (1904–1966) was a co-founder of the Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, serving as its

treasurer A treasurer is a person responsible for the financial operations of a government, business, or other organization. Government The treasury of a country is the department responsible for the country's economy, finance and revenue. The treasure ...

and director. He was a wealthy

accountant An accountant is a practitioner of accounting or accountancy. Accountants who have demonstrated competency through their professional associations' certification exams are certified to use titles such as Chartered Accountant, Chartered Certif ...

working as treasurer for the

aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' include fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air aircraft such as h ...

pioneers

Grover Grover is a blue Muppet character on the PBS/HBO children's television show ''Sesame Street''. Self-described as lovable, cute, and furry, he is a blue monster who rarely uses contractions when he speaks or sings. Grover was originally perfo ...

and Albert Loening who had agreed to invest in the company and invested $100,000 of his own money when the company was created. The

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

native was the son of astronomer Charles Lane Poor and Anna Louise Easton and studied at both

Williams College Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim ...

and

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, obtaining his B.A. in 1927. He was the treasurer of the village of Dering Harbor on Shelter Island. He and wife Catharine B. Wynkoop of Bath, New York, were the parents of Edmund W. Poor Jr. of the

Boston Computer Society The Boston Computer Society (BCS) was an organization of personal computer users, based in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, U.S., that ran from 1977 to 1996. At one point, it was the largest such group in the world, with regular user group mee ...

and Professor Henry W. Poor of the University of Miami in Florida. He subsequently married Fannie B. Moore in

West Islip West Islip is a hamlet and CDP settled in 1683, located in the Town of Islip, in Suffolk County, New York, United States. Situated on the South Shore of Long Island, the population of the CDP was 27,048 at the time of the 2020 census. Histor ...

in December 1950. Poor was an accomplished sailor, active in one design and offshore classes throughout his life. In 1961 he purchased a Block Island 40 yawl, which he named Starward. The name was created by combining his then wife Fannie's middle name, Starbird, with his own middle name. He campaigned Starward actively, with a crew of friends and family, including his sons Edmund and Henry, and his stepson and stepdaughter, John and Sally, and Sally's husband, Dr. Pier Mancusi-Ungaro. Poor fulfilled a lifelong dream when he skippered Starward in the 1962 Bermuda Race. He drowned on the night of January 16, 1966 in the canal behind his home at 28 Garner Lane in Bay Shore on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Poor, Edmund Ward 1904 births 1966 deaths People from Bay Shore, New York 20th-century American businesspeople Deaths by drowning in New York (state)