Editing Thomas Edison (section)

==Final years==
[[File:Ford Edison Firestone1.jpg|thumb|From left to right: [[Henry Ford]], Edison, and [[Harvey S. Firestone]] in [[Fort Myers, Florida]], on February 11, 1929]]
[[Henry Ford]], the automobile magnate, later lived a few hundred feet away from Edison at his winter retreat in Fort Myers. Ford once worked as an engineer for the [[DTE Electric Company|Edison Illuminating Company of Detroit]] and met Edison at a convention of affiliated Edison Illuminating companies in Brooklyn, NY in 1896. Edison was impressed with Ford's internal combustion engine automobile and encouraged its developments. They were friends until Edison's death. Edison and Ford undertook annual motor camping trips from 1914 to 1924. [[Harvey Firestone]] and naturalist [[John Burroughs]] also participated.

In 1928, Edison joined the Fort Myers [[Civitan International|Civitan Club]]. He believed strongly in the organization, writing that "The Civitan Club is doing things—big things—for the community, state, and nation, and I certainly consider it an honor to be numbered in its ranks."<ref>{{cite book |last= Armbrester |first= Margaret E. |title= The Civitan Story |year= 1992 |publisher=Ebsco Media |location= Birmingham, AL |page= 34 }}</ref> He was an active member in the club until his death, sometimes bringing Henry Ford to the club's meetings.

Edison was active in business right up to the end. Just months before his death, the [[Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad|Lackawanna Railroad]] inaugurated suburban electric train service from [[Hoboken, New Jersey|Hoboken]] to [[Montclair, New Jersey|Montclair]], [[Dover, New Jersey|Dover]], and [[Gladstone, New Jersey]]. Electrical transmission for this service was by means of an overhead catenary system using direct current, which Edison had championed. Despite his frail condition, Edison was at the throttle of the first electric MU (Multiple-Unit) train to depart Lackawanna Terminal in Hoboken in September 1930, driving the train the first mile through Hoboken yard on its way to [[South Orange, NJ|South Orange]].<ref name="Holland 2001">{{Holland-Classic}}</ref>

This fleet of cars would serve commuters in [[North Jersey]] for the next 54 years until their retirement in 1984. A plaque commemorating Edison's inaugural ride can be seen today in the waiting room of Lackawanna Terminal in Hoboken, which is presently operated by [[NJ Transit]].<ref name="Holland 2001"/>

Edison was said to have been influenced by a popular [[Food faddism|fad diet]] in his last few years; "the only liquid he consumed was a pint of milk every three hours".<ref name="Israel">{{cite book|last=Israel|first=Paul|author-link=Paul Israel (historian)|title=Edison: A Life of Invention|year=2000|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-0-471-36270-8 |url=https://archive.org/details/edisonlifeofinve0000isra_l4c0 |url-access=registration}}</ref> He is reported to have believed this diet would restore his health. However, this tale is doubtful. In 1930, the year before Edison died, Mina said in an interview about him, "Correct eating is one of his greatest hobbies."<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/69982485/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle/ Edison at Home] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210511122856/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/69982485/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle/ |date=May 11, 2021 }} The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. May 24, 1930.</ref> She also said that during one of his periodic "great scientific adventures", Edison would be up at 7:00, have breakfast at 8:00, and be rarely home for lunch or dinner, implying that he continued to have all three.<ref name="condensed1042"/>

Edison became the owner of his Milan, Ohio, birthplace in 1906. On his last visit, in 1923, he was reportedly shocked to find his old home still lit by lamps and candles.<ref>{{Cite web|title=His Life|url=http://tomedison.org/tom/hislife/|website=The Thomas Edison Birthplace Museum|access-date=May 31, 2020|archive-date=August 4, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804233436/http://tomedison.org/tom/hislife/|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Death===
Edison died of complications of diabetes on October 18, 1931, in his home, "Glenmont" in [[Llewellyn Park]] in [[West Orange, New Jersey]], which he had purchased in 1886 as a wedding gift for Mina. Rev. [[Stephen J. Herben]] officiated at the funeral;<ref>{{cite news | title = Rev. S. Herben Dead at 75 | newspaper = Plainfield Courier-News | location = Plainfield, New Jersey | page = 11 | date = February 23, 1937 | url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/18254003 | via = [[Newspapers.com]] | access-date = March 19, 2018 | archive-date = March 16, 2022 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220316115838/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/18254003/rev-s-herben-dead-at-75/ | url-status = live }} {{free access}}</ref> Edison is buried behind the home.<ref>{{cite news|title=Thomas Edison Dies in Coma at 84; Family With Him as the End Comes; Inventor Succumbs at 3:24&nbsp;am. After Fight for Life Since He Was Stricken on August 1. World-Wide Tribute Is Paid to Him as a Benefactor of Mankind|quote=[[West Orange, New Jersey]], Sunday, October 18, 1931. Thomas Alva Edison died at 3:24 o'clock this morning at his home, Glenmont, in the Llewellyn Park section of this city. The great inventor, the fruits of whose genius so magically transformed the everyday world, was 84 years and 8 months old.|work=The New York Times|date=October 18, 1931}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Benoit |first=Tod |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781579126780/page/560/mode/2up |title=Where are they buried? How did they die? |publisher=Black Dog & Leventhal |year=2003 |isbn=978-1-57912-678-0 |page=560 |url-access=registration}}</ref>

Edison's last breath is reportedly contained in a test tube at [[The Henry Ford]] museum near Detroit. Ford reportedly convinced [[Charles Edison]] to seal a test tube of air in the inventor's room shortly after his death, as a memento.<ref>[http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_128a.html "Is Thomas Edison's last breath preserved in a test tube in the Henry Ford Museum?"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930180626/http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_128a.html |date=September 30, 2007 }}, [[The Straight Dope]], September 11, 1987. Retrieved August 20, 2007.</ref> A plaster [[death mask]] and casts of Edison's hands were also made.<ref>Neil Baldwin, Edison: Inventing the Century, University of Chicago Press – 2001, 408</ref> Mina died in 1947.