Edward Philip Caffarella, Jr.

Edward Caffarella, age 75, passed over at his home in Ithaca, NY on January 8, 2022 following a long fight with Parkinson’s Disease. Known to friends as Ed and to family as Bud, he was born December 16, 1946 in Lynn, Massachusetts to the late Ethel Ada (Richardson) Caffarella and Edward Philip Caffarella Sr. of Saugus, Massachusetts.

Bud attended Saugus, MA public schools, graduating in 1964 from Saugus High School where he played in the band and acted in several plays. Ed recalled how both activities served him throughout his life. The band showed the importance of teamwork and coordination; acting provided opportunities to speak and interact with a large audience.

Ed graduated from Springfield College, earned his M.Ed. from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and his PhD in Instructional Development and Technology from Michigan State University. He was a leader in the field of teacher education and educational technology. He retired from SUNY Cortland as professor emeritus of educational leadership in the School of Education and held faculty appointments at the University of Maine, Virginia Commonwealth University and University of Northern Colorado. He held offices in various professional organizations and authored many articles, programs and books. In 2000, he received the Distinguished Service Award from the Association for Educational Communication and Technology for service to the profession over a lifetime.

As a young boy, he loved trains and continued that passion with N-Scale trains into his retirement. He was an active volunteer for the Habitat for Humanity of Tompkins and Cortland Counties and loved mowing the lawn with his John Deere tractor. When their daughter was young, they traveled across the country camping, overseas to Europe and spent part of every summer in Bar Harbor, ME with the families of college friends. As part of their teaching, consulting and personal lives, they also traveled to Australia, Malaysia, Nepal, Eastern Europe and other destinations around the world.

He was a loving husband, devoted father and fun-loving grandfather. He was a leader, hardworking, strong, confident, loving and supportive.

He leaves his wife of 53 years, Rosemary Shelly Caffarella; daughter, Christina Zaidi and her boyfriend Whitney Lang; grandsons, Christian Keeling and Levi Keeling; sister, Barbara Cann Calista and her husband Joseph Calista of Maine; niece, Bethany Cann and her husband Hugo Castillo Zanata and grandnephews Luke and Noel Castillo Cann of Philadelphia; nephew, David Cann of California; and brother-in-law, Richard Shelly of Waldwick, NJ.

A graveside service will be held in the spring at the Riverside Cemetery in Saugus, MA. In lieu of flowers, please consider a contribution to the “Rosemary E. Shelly and Edward P. Caffarella Scholarship” at Springfield College, 263 Alden St., Springfield, MA 01109; or your favorite charity.

To share a memory or leave a message for the family, please visit www.lansingfuneralhome.com.