In Memoriam: Ed Chandler

The Security Industry Association joins the security industry in mourning the passing of Edmonds “Ed” H. Chandler, Jr., CPP. Chandler founded Security By Design, Inc., in 1974, and passed away on Monday, April 7, 2025. Chandler was a true leader in the world of security consulting and design. Thanks to Ed and his wife and co-founder, Lorna, Security By Design Inc., was one of SIA’s early active security consulting member companies, part of a wave that has led to an engaged community of consultants, specifiers, design firms and architecture and engineering firms in the association.

From the family:

He and co-founder Lorna L. Chandler, CPP, navigated the changing landscape of physical security from implementing the first international access control system in the 1980s to today’s world of networked multifaceted systems. He was an expert in door hardware and was constantly pushing the envelope of what was possible in this realm. He championed new technology and brought people together. Over the past several years, he and Lorna welcomed longtime employee Eric J. Reither and daughter Christina M. McCutcheon, CPP, into the leadership team. His dynamism and creativity will be greatly missed, even as his vision continues.

We asked SIA Executive Advisory Board member Ray Coulombe to share a few words about Ed’s impact on the industry.

“With Ed Chandler’s passing, we have lost a true giant of our industry. Ed was not only a great friend, but also one of the smartest, most knowledgeable security consultants I had the pleasure of knowing,” said Coulombe. “Ed and his wife, Lorna, founded Security By Design over 50 years ago, and they built their company into one of the most respected design firms in physical and electronic security. Ed was insightful, pragmatic and kind. He reveled in testing one’s knowledge of a subject, and he wasn’t one whose eyes you could pull the wool over. He will be sorely missed.”