Edmund H. Gaunt, aka Ned, was born Feb. 9, 1940, in Maywood and died peacefully April 13, 2025, in Duluth, Minnesota.
He is survived by his wife, Laraine Gaunt; his brother Bruce Gaunt; his children, Geoff and Susanna; and his grandchildren, Sawyer, Lily, Hadden, Cyrus and Roland.
A loyal and truthful and decent person, Ned was known by all who engaged with him to be friendly, dependable, intelligent and creative. From a young age, Ned knew he wanted to be an architect and, after graduating from high school as the president of his class at Red Bank Regional High School, he went on to study architecture at Princeton University, where he rowed crew and made lifelong friendships.
After serving in the Navy for two years post-college, Ned continued his architectural pursuit, attaining his Master of Architecture at Stanford University. Ned returned to New Jersey to work with Gary Kaplan and the two eventually formed a partnership, along with Bob DeSantis, that became the long-standing and very reputable Red Bank-based architecture firm of Kaplan, Gaunt, DeSantis. With over 40 years of service to its community, KGD played a major role in the revival of downtown Red Bank. Ned spent much of his career as an architect and a volunteer rebuilding his hometown and was appropriately honored with many awards, both for architecture and personally. His career was one of his proudest successes but not his only love.
Ned was a devout husband and a thoughtful and caring father. His true love and partner for over 60 years, Laraine, was also a childhood friend. Their love first blossomed during trips to Long Beach Island as teenagers and then for many years and multiple occasions following, including a wonderful 50th wedding anniversary celebration. The bond between Ned and Laraine cannot be overstated and has become the hallmark of their life and relationships with family and friends. Ned and Laraine shared wonderful relationships with many friends, from the SYBO group to the COOP, all of whom felt the warmth and strong sense of commitment and connection that Ned and Laraine believed in.
Ned will be missed by all who knew him and his memories, his relationships, his buildings and his impact will live on for many decades to come.
A celebration of Ned’s life will be held from 11 a.m. to noon, Sunday, Aug. 3, at the Two River Theater, 21 Bridge Ave., Red Bank.
The article originally appeared in the July 24 – 30, 2025 print edition of The Two River Times.
