We’ve lost another member of our musical family. Edwin “Buster” Laetz was a lifelong woodworker. I knew that he made all of the instruments that he played at our jams but didn’t know he also built houses and did wood carving.

He had a quiet demeanor at the jams. He would play an Irish or Scottish fiddle tune. He will be missed.

A number of his carvings were displayed at the funeral home. 

I cannot imagine how much skill is involved in making a musical instrument. I felt I had accomplished something by building a bird house. Ed made his first guitar in the 1970s. It is the one to the right of the dulcimer. His instrument of choice at the jams was a fiddle with a carved headpiece.

Obituary

Funeral arrangements are being handled by Masciarelli Family Funeral Homes in Westminster, MA. This is a copy of the Obituary.

Westminster — Edwin “Buster” R. Laetz, 80 of Westminster and North Port Fl, passed away peacefully Monday morning, April 26, 2021 with his loving family by his side.
   
Ed was born in Harrisburg, PA on December 30, 1940 a son of the late Vernon W. and Dorothy E. (McLeod) Laetz.

   Edwin will be lovingly remembered by his wife, Barbara J. (Delorey) Laetz and their two children, Janice Swenor and her husband Clay of Westminster and Christine Laetz of Westford along with his brother, Robert Laetz and his wife Sandra of Suttons Bay, MI. 

   Ed was grandfather to, Kerri Lee Jones and her husband Jeff, Jessica Swenor, Olivia Battye, and Jillian Battye as well as his great-grandchildren, Addison Jones, Evelyn Jones, and Cameron Jones. Ed was brother-in-law and “dad” to Fred Delorey and is wife Karen and John Delorey and his wife Jayne as well as uncle to several nieces and nephews including Samantha Klindt, Heidi Brooks, John Delorey, Sarah Couturier, Kathy Laetz-Quotah, Allison Roberts, Alexander Delorey, and Douglas Delorey.  Edwin was predeceased by one sister, Suzanne V. Laetz.

   Woodworking was part of Ed’s life since middle school. He started his career as a Journeyman Carpenter and Millright with the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America.  As his family and talents grew, he joined the faculty at Leominster High School in 1973 as the Housebuilding instructor at their trade school. During that time, he along with over 150 students, built homes for 10 families in Leominster. He was later promoted to Shop Coordinator and just prior to his retirement after 30 years, interim Director of the Center for Technical Education.

   In addition to building homes, Ed was an artist and made music…one instrument at a time. He bought a book and built his first guitar in 1973, just to see if he could do it. That was the first of hundreds of stringed instruments made from exotic woods and inlays including guitars, mandolins, dulcimers, violins, and ukuleles.

   Ed could be found on any given Friday night playing bluegrass at local “pickin’ parties” as well or at the Burren with the Scottish Fiddle Club in Boston.  Ed was a member of the Guild of American Luthiers, Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans, New England Luthiers, and New England Woodcarvers. In his spare time, Buster carved caricatures and made furniture for his daughters. Never forgetting his years as a teacher, Ed also taught others woodcarving through the ALFA Program at Fitchburg State University and the Westminster Senior Center.