Ed Malzahn, chairman of the Charles Machine Works Inc. (Ditch Witch) and inventor of the world’s first compact trenching machine, died Dec. 11 in Perry, Okla., his lifelong home and location of the company he led for 67 years. He was 94.

In 1948 Malzahn, a recent engineering graduate, designed and built a small trencher that he saw would be a tool for digging service lines from water mains to residences.

Put on the market in 1950, that first Ditch Witch trencher evolved into a broad range of equipment for placing not only pipe, but power, telephone, and television cable and today plays an active role in deployment of broadband fiber networks. Ditch Witch equipment is in the fleets of many NECA contractors who use it for both power and telecommunications construction.

In 2011, Malzahn stepped aside as his granddaughter, Tiffany Sewell-Howard, assumed the position of chief executive officer, and the company remains a closely held family corporation. However, Malzahn remained active in the company in his position of chairman.

He came to the office the morning of Friday Dec. 11. That evening. an ambulance was called to his home, and he died later that night at Perry Memorial Hospital. He will be missed.