Edward Ensign

Edward Ensign, Orange County native, metrologist, machinist 1952-2007

Edward King Ensign of Costa Mesa died Monday, Dec. 24, 2007, during a recurring bout with heart disease. He was 55.

On Saturday, January 19, at 1 p.m., family and friends are invited to gather at the Chicken Coop (formerly Zubies) at 414 Old Newport Blvd. in Newport Beach to celebrate and memorialize the life of “Eddie,” as he was affectionately known in the optics industry to which he devoted a career spanning four decades.

The Ensigns trace their roots back to 1620 when an Irish ancestor was the caretaker of the flags for an expedition to Connecticut. Hence, that Irishman adopted the name Ensign (meaning flag bearer) denoting his occupation as was the 17th century custom.

A town named Ensign, Kan., founded in the 1880’s, commemorated the civic efforts of the family in that area. The Ensign clan eventually made their way west, settling in Los Angeles County in the pre-World War II era.

In Los Angeles, Horace Oscar Ensign, Ed’s grandfather, worked as a school teacher, later transferring to a job in Orange County. In 1949, when a new school was built in Costa Mesa, it was named in honor of Horace, the school’s first principal. Today, that school is called Ensign Intermediate School.

As a Costa Mesa kid, Ed pedaled his bicycle everywhere and skateboarded every nook, ramp, and curb in the nearby beach towns and in his Back Bay neighborhood. In his teens, he became obsessed with dirt bikes, intuitively understanding their engines and how they worked.

In 1971, Ed and his father, Don, bought matching Triumph 650 motorcycles and spent lots of their leisure time riding together. Ed’s passion for motorcycles continued his entire life, having bought a new Harley Davidson Sportster only weeks before his death.

But unlike his grandfather, Ed’s career-oriented education was more practical, developed from an innate mechanical ability. His formal education included attending Costa Mesa High School and some classes at Orange Coast Colleg but, for Ed, learning was a lifelong enterprise that occurred by doing and from research at the workplace.

In 1978, Ed started his optical career at Valtec Corporation, also known as Precision Optical, where he worked nearly his entire career. Even in the 1980 while employed at Exotic Materials, Ed often moonlighted at Precision Optical, working with Al Lambert, who eventually bought Precision’s Costa Mesa plant in 1990.

“In those early days, we could make good parts, but the measurement was far from an exact science,” recalled Al Lambert. “It was Eddie who came up with the software applications to bridge the gap. Now we can measure as well as we can manufacture.”

Lambert, more than any other associate, understood the man who was Edward Ensign. In addition to his uncanny ability as a metrologist, Lambert described Ed as a “real whiz” with a computer.

“He was my best friend, uncle to my kids, and a true innovator in our industry,” said Lambert. “Eddie could explain something he was working on to a room full of Ph.D.’s, and they would sit mesmerized with saying a word.”

After Ed returned to Precision Optical in 1990, he was made a manufacturing manager until 1993 when he was appointed Regional Vice President, a title he held at the time of his death. Lambert called Ed”...the smartest man I ever met.”

In addition to his love of motorsports, Ed was avid pro football fan who, after the Rams left Anaheim, learned to love the New England Patriots. He also liked to camp, fish, and was in the planning stages of building an off-road buggy with his Huntington Beach nephews.

Ed was preceded in death by his father, Donald Irvin Ensigh, and mother Jean King Ensign. He is survived by his daughter Megan Ensign, a student at Roosevelt University in Chicago; his companion, Ann Sides, of Costa Mesa; brothers Donald Ensign, Medford, N.Y., Hardy Ensign of Orcutt, and Fred Ensign of Huntington Beach: sisters Dana Meadows of Hillsboro, Ore., Heidi Bohlen of Mission Viejo, and Peri Young of Riverside; his stepmother, Mary Agner, of Costa Mesa and her four children; and several nieces and nephews.

Remembrances in Ed’s honor may be made to the University of California, Irvine: School of Medicine;

Willed Body Program: 252 Irvine Hall; Irvine, Ca 92697-3950 phone 949-824-6061