Ed Mooney, owner of Fire Island Ferries for over 35 years, dies at 91

Like the currents of the Great South Bay, every day was a little bit different for Ed Mooney.

Mooney, who owned Fire Island Ferries for more than 35 years before transferring ownership to his three children, lived his professional life on the water, where no two days are the same.

"Every day you were confronted with a new challenge or something different to work on or contend with," said son Tim Mooney, who is now the president and co-owner with his brother, Mike Mooney of Medford, of the family business. "He enjoyed the challenge of problem solving as things came up, and the ability to apply some thought, some expertise, and some knowledge to something and come up with a remedy."

Ed Mooney, who lived in West Islip for the past 15 years after 45 in Bay Shore, died on Dec. 26 at St. Catherine of Siena Medical Center in Smithtown, his family said. He was 91.

"Ed was a good man to work for," said Dave Anderson, 59, of Bayport, who has worked for the company since 1984. "He was very demanding and safety-oriented. He prided himself on his employees and stressing family and that we’re all one big family down there."

Born on Aug. 11, 1929, in Teaneck, New Jersey, Ed Mooney moved to Long Island in 1948 shortly after graduating Teaneck High School. He found work as a deck hand at Fire Island Ferries.

Mooney was drafted into the Army in 1951 and served in France during the Korean War. He achieved the rank of sergeant, worked on boats and returned to Fire Island Ferries after his tour ended in 1952, Tim Mooney said.

In 1971, Ed Mooney purchased the business from one of the original owners, Elmer Patterson, and decided to make what started as a job for an 18-year-old New Jersey transplant into a lifetime career, his son said.

"He just loved the business," said Tim Mooney, 66, of Fire Island. "He loved being on the water and loved running boats. He was very much committed to the industry at that point."

Among Ed Mooney’s first projects was improving the company’s fleets. While the previous armada included repurposed World War II-era vessels, he set out to bring in larger ferries, Tim Mooney said.

In the early ’70s, the company started slowly phasing out wood ferryboats in favor of ones made of steel, Anderson said.

"He really moved the business forward into the modern age, if you will," Tim Mooney said. "The business was picking up, and he needed boats that could carry more passengers. These surplus boats that they were using were limited in their passenger capacity, and the newer boats were two and three times the capacity of the older boats."

As a father of three, Ed Mooney was a hands-on presence, who served as the scout master of Boy Scout Troop 10 in Bay Shore in the 1960s. As a grandfather of nine, he was an encouraging presence who handed down his love of boating and the water.

"We shared a lot of memories around the water together," said granddaughter Morgan Mooney, who works at Fire Island Ferries in various capacities, including as a captain. "When my dad was on the boat or my uncles or my brother, that didn’t bother me, but when my grandfather was in my wheelhouse and onboard my boat, I was needing to make sure I have every little nuance down because I didn’t want to mess up in front of him."

She continued: "What he thought of my skills mattered the most to me because everyone always talked about how skilled he was as a captain and a mechanic, and I wanted to make sure that I did him proud every day."

In addition to his two sons, Ed Mooney is survived by daughter Casey Cassino of North Carolina; brother Robert Mooney and sister Joan Schoeffel, both of New Jersey; eight grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren. He is predeceased by his wife of 61 years, Pat; grandson Brian Mooney; and sisters Edna Mooney, Marie Kerber and Suzanne Maddison.

Ed Mooney was buried at St. Patrick’s Cemetery in Bay Shore.