Edward Anthony Nagel

Edward Anthony Nagel

July 14, 1934 – November 5, 2026

Edward Anthony Nagel, 92, died peacefully at Haven Hospice after a brief illness. He was born in Queens, New York, to Anthony Edward Nagel and Julia Hanlin Grabowski. An only child, he moved with his parents to Melbourne, Florida, as a teen. Ed attended Mel-Hi, where he played catcher for the baseball team and earned the nickname “The Nage.” He got up early every morning before school to go fishing and sold what he caught for spending money. Despite his family’s limited means, Ed was popular with his peers and excelled in his studies.

After high school, Nagel served in the US Navy on the aircraft carrier USS Essex during the Korean War era and then attended UF where he majored in English and studied with the novelist, Andrew Lytle. He loved to tell colorful tales of his exploits with his roommate, Harry Crews. He also roomed with fellow Sigma Nu, Florida Governor Bob Graham. As an older student on the GI Bill, he excelled at intramural sports and met his first wife while waiting tables at the Chi Omega house. After their wedding, Nagel set aside his plans for a graduate degree in creative writing and opted for UF Law. Upon graduating, he moved his young family to his wife’s hometown of Orlando, where he was a trial attorney.

Ed loved listening to classical music and Gordon Lightfoot, Jim Croce, and Paul Simon, driving his convertible sports cars and Honda motorcycle, and teaching his children new vocabulary words and Buddhist koans. He struggled with alcoholism and was eventually disbarred. In recovery, he worked the 12 steps in AA, sponsoring many people in Winter Park, and he ran marathons. He did legal title work, sold timeshares, taught literature at Valencia, published the semi-autobiographical novel, No Entry, set in Gainesville, and wrote plays for off-off Broadway. Ed loved watching his favorites movies like Being There and Reds on repeat. You could often find him with a large, iced coffee in hand, with his weathered leather jacket, oversized aviator sunglasses, and long shaggy hairstyle, always eager to engage in conversation.

He spent his last two decades back in Gainesville, living with family or in senior housing, veterans assisted living at the Jenkins Domiciliary in Lake City, and finally at Park Meadows. His family thanks his many caregivers.

Edward is survived by his three loving children, Lauren Richardson, of Gainesville, Florida, Ashley Nagel, of Casselberry, Florida, and Jason Nagel, of Orlando, Florida; and seven grandchildren, Whitney Wolf III, Gavin Strohl, Caroline Richardson, Harper Strohl, Sander Strohl, Samuel Strohl, and Asher Strohl.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in his memory to the ACLU or other progressive cause of your choice, the UF English Department, or Haven Hospice.