Obituary of Edward Walter Kopec

Edward W. Kopec, 92, passed away peacefully with his family surrounding him on October 2, 2023. Born October 25, 1930 in Chicopee, he was the son of Wladyslaw (Walter) and Karolina (Caroline) (Soja) Kopec. Ed grew up in Chicopee. He served in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean conflict. After his military service, he worked as a camera repair technician at Precision Camera in Chicopee. He trained in Sweden to repair high end Hasselblad cameras among his other camera specialties.

His weekend job was as a wedding photographer in the Valley, working with Lasher’s Studio. He claims to have formally recorded over 800 couples tying the knot!

His life-long love was airplanes, and he built and flew model airplanes for decades. He was a founding member of the Springfield Area Radio Kontrollers, and later a member of the Hampshire County Radio Controllers in Hadley, MA where he was known to patiently mentor many a newcomer about the sport.

He volunteered at the Middle School in South Hadley, working with students in building and flying model airplanes in after-school classes using funds he raised from the community. His passion ignited several of the students to pursue aeronautics and aviation engineering in college! Ed was also a member of the Westover Galaxy Community Council, supporting the mission of Westover ARB.

Ed has lived in South Hadley for over 60 years. Ed’s love and passion for life will forever remain with his children, Lawrence Kopec of South Hadley, Thomas Kopec and Leah Carneiro of Lake Worth, FL, Kathleen Guyott and her husband Marc of Reading, MA, David Kopec and his wife Cheryl of Ludlow, and Brian Kopec and his wife Tanya of South Hadley as well as seven grandchildren: Lauren, Kristina, Justin, William, Christopher, Marissa and Cindy. Besides his parents, he was predeceased by his loving wife of 67 years, Kathleen. Visitation will be held Thursday, October 12 from 4:00-7:45 p.m., with a service to conclude at 7:45 p.m., at the Beers & Story South Hadley Funeral Home. Burial will be private. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to Hospice of the Fisher Home, 1165 N. Pleasant St., Amherst, MA 01002.