WEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - Mr. Ansin passed away at his home on Miami Beach Sunday and was laid to rest Wednesday, and the service was filled with beautiful words, beautiful memories and a promise to keep his vision alive.
Family and close friends gathered at Lakeside Memorial Park in West Miami-Dade to say a final goodbye to Ed Ansin.
“Baruch Dayan HaEmet, praise is the judge of truth,” Rabbi Julie Jacobs said.
A South Florida visionary and philanthropist, Ed Ansin was remembered as a man who loved his family and the South Florida community he called home.
“My dad was a fatalist at heart,” daughter Stephanie Ansin said. “He saw the big picture and seemed to trust the flow of life’s events. He was a good and honest person who was there for me when I most needed him.”
At 84, when most people were long retired, his work ethic remained unrivaled.
“Edmund Ansin lived his life his way,” son Andy Ansin said. “He worked until his final moment. He had his mental faculties until the end. Some of his physical abilities had begun to decline, but Edmund Ansin did what he loved until his last breath.”
His son James Ansin remembered his love of the Boston Red Sox and his hometown teams, as well.
“Over the years, my fondest memories of my dad were going to Miami Dolphins games, Miami Heat games and Miami Marlins games,” he said. “I am truly disheartened to lose my father, my boss and my best friend.”
Ed Ansin’s television legacy began in 1962 when his father Sidney bought the South Florida station when it was WCKT. Over the decades, He stayed at the helm leading, mentoring, guiding and creating new opportunities for so many.
“People have said how he changed their lives, giving them a chance by hiring them,” WSVN’s Vice President of News Alice Jacobs said. “Many of us grew up at Channel 7, buying homes, sending our children to college and none of that would have been possible without Ed.”
In 1993, Ansin bought WHDH-TV and later WLVI in Boston, where he grew up. There, he recreated the dynamic, fast-paced news style that so many stations have copied around the country and what contributed to his success as a broadcast leader.
“So many people knew him as a television icon, but I know everyone here knew him as Ed or Dad or Grandpa,” WSVN General Manager Paul Magnes said. “He was an amazing person.”
His love for the community showed in his philanthropy. Over the decades giving generously to the United Way, Habitat for Humanity, Feeding South Florida, Best Buddies and so many more.
“Everyone knows how giving Ed was to charities in South Florida and Boston, but Ed was humble, and he never bragged about himself, so what people don’t know is how generous he was to his employees,” Jacobs said. “I have seen him keep people with terminal illness on the payroll after their contracts have expired, so they would have health insurance, and they would have an income to provide for their families.”
Family and friends mourning a loss, honoring his success and incredible legacy.
“Ed could not have been a better mentor or a better boss,” Jim Goggins, Ansin’s friend and business partner, said. “To paraphrase a line from a movie he and I always liked, Ed had vision, and I was wearing bifocals.”
“Proud, top of his game,” Andy Ansin said. “It was the perfect time for Dad to leave this world.”
“As we release your body into the Earth and your spirit up to heaven, I will forever hold onto the love I know we feel for each other, and it will continue to grow over the years,” Stephanie Ansin said.
“Yavo de Shalom, may Ed go up to God in peace,” said Rabbi Jacobs.
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