Edmund Astolfi

Cypress Village, Jacksonville, Florida - Edmund G. Astolfi, 88, passed away on August 13, 2016, with his wife and children by his side.  He was born in Chicago, Illinois on October 9, 1927.  He is survived by his wife, Ernine; his sons: Robert Astolfi (Jennifer Estes) of Colleyville, TX; David Astolfi of Melbourne Beach, FL; his daughter, Carol Cooke (Geoffrey) of Jacksonville, FL; and his grandchildren, Jason and Zachary Estes; and Jean-Luc and Christian Cooke.  He had 5 great grandchildren: Cole, Campbell and Cade Estes, and Josephine and Isabelle Cooke.

In 1960 the family moved from the Chicago area to Ramsey, New Jersey when Mr. Astolfi was transferred to New York City. In 1968 the family moved to Greenwich, Connecticut where they resided for 27 years.  In 1995, Mr. and Mrs. Astolfi moved to Las Colinas, Irving, Texas and in 2002, they moved to the Cypress Village Retirement Community in Jacksonville, Florida.

Mr. Astolfi retired from American National Can Company in 1990 after 34 years, where he held management positions in R&D, commercial development of new products, new business operations, and domestic and international technology licensing.  He successfully negotiated technology licenses worldwide.

Mr. Astolfi graduated from Northwestern University in 1950 with a B.S. Degree in Chemical Engineering, the MIT Senior Executive Program and the Columbia University Marketing Management Program.  He served in the U.S. Army, 1946-1947, with the occupation forces in Japan and Okinawa.

After retirement from American National Can Company, his principal activities included: consulting assignments for a Japanese trading company, major U.S. corporations and several start-up companies in the chemical and computer fields; co-authoring a manual for the U.S. Department of Commerce to use in training technology transfer officers and others in Federal Laboratories; and writing chapters on technology transfer agreements and negotiation as part of a Technology Transfer Manual published in 1996 by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization.

For many years, Mr. Astolfi had been active in the Licensing Executives Society (LES) as: chairman of numerous domestic and international committees, member of the Board of Trustees for seven years and Vice President of the Society's Eastern Region.  In 1993, he chaired the LES Online Committee, which established an electronic information service for the worldwide LES membership.  His extensive service earned him, in 1993, the Award of Honor, the highest honor that can be bestowed upon a member of LES (USA & Canada), and in 1998 the Society elected him a Life Member.

Mr. Astolfi was a volunteer at heart, serving in community affairs in all the places he and his family lived.  He also was active as a manager of Little League baseball teams for 12 years.

Mr. Astolfi served on the Irving, Texas Arts Board for 5 years, on the Board of Directors for the Greater Irving-Las Colinas Chamber of Commerce, and as Chair of the Chamber’s International Affairs Group until his move to Florida.

At the Cypress Village retirement community, Mr. Astolfi served as Treasurer of the Residents Council for three years and spent 12 years as a Board member of the Employees Christmas Fund and the Florida Life Care Residents Association (FLiCRA).  He also kept an email address list of over 150 Cypress Village residents through which he kept them advised of news of interest to the community, information on the sales of Cypress Village homes and financial and other news emanating from Brookdale Living Inc., owner of Cypress Village.

A memorial service will be held at 11:00 AM, on Tuesday, August 23, at the Palms Presbyterian Church, Jacksonville Beach, Florida.  In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to Palms Presbyterian Church, the Cypress Village Employees Christmas Fund or the Cypress Village Scholarship Fund.