Edward Francis Batutis, born July 4, 1924, died on April 9, 2012 at the Stonebridge retirement center in Skillman, NJ after a protracted illness.

The third son of Michael Batutis and Anele Sapiega, he was born in Mahanoy City, PA. After graduating from Minersville High School in 1942, he enlisted in the Navy and saw action in the South Pacific as a Torpedoman Second Class on the destroyer USS Franks. Ed was honorably discharged from the Navy at the end of the war and attended Penn State on the GI bill, where he earned a BS in Chemistry in June, 1950. He married Gertrude Kessler in 1951 and held a variety of positions as a research chemist at Mine Safety Appliances, General Electric, and ultimately at his own consulting firm. He worked on a many scientific projects, among them a power generator left on the moon by the Apollo astronauts, and an underwater kelp farm to grow biomass as a renewable energy source. He obtained patents for an oil/water separator that cleaned bilge water from Navy ships so that it could be discharged safely into the ocean. From 1969-1970 he participated in General Electric's "Project Tektite", during which he became one of the few "aquanauts" to spend an extended time living in a habitat on the ocean floor.

He and Gertrude had four children, and helped raise two nephews and a niece in the Valley Forge, PA area. He was an avid fisherman and golfer, and participated in community theater productions by Forge Theater in Phoenixville, PA where he was a founding member, and helped with funding its current production space. Ed served a term on the Phoenixville school board, led Chester County PA Boy Scout Troop 73 for over 10 years, and served as a lector and choir member of St. Ann's Roman Catholic Church for 40 years.

He is predeceased by his parents, brothers, and wife. He leaves his four children: Claire Robinson and husband Michael of Brooklyn, NY; Edward J. Batutis and wife Susan of Newton, MA; Cathryn Heath and husband John of Belle Mead, NJ; and Joseph E. Batutis and wife Gail of Long Island City, NY. He also leaves nine grandchildren and a host of friends and relatives. We will miss his easygoing nature, positive mentoring, and his love of the outdoors, both land and sea.

A funeral mass will be held at St. Charles Borromeo RC Church, 47 Skillman Road, Skillman, NJ on Friday, April 13, 2012 at 10:00am. Visitation will be at the church beginning 9:30am. Burial will follow in St. Ann's Church Cemetery, Phoenixville, PA.