Edwin K. Large, Jr.

Edwin K. Large, Jr., 98, died on April 3, 2011, at his home near Augusta, GA.

Although his family had a long history in Hunterdon County, Ed was born to Edwin Kirk Large and Edna Page Large on January 28, 1913 in Atlanta, GA, where his father served as postmaster until 1934. The family then returned to Flemington.

Ed attended Atlanta public schools through junior high, when he won a work-study scholarship to the Taft School, a boys’ boarding school in Watertown, CT. After graduating from Taft in 1931, he attended New York’s Columbia University, where he again worked his way through school.

In 1935 Large entered Columbia Law School. His interest in law was heightened by coming out to Flemington to assist the prosecution at the Hauptman trial: Prosecutors were headquartered at the Main Street office of Large’s uncle, Judge George K. Large. Young Ed “gloriously served as gopher,” as he recalled later. Large always thought the jury’s controversial verdict was fair—up to a point. “I’m sure,” he said, “that Hauptman made the ladder used to reach the nursery window. Did he climb it? We may never know. But he refused to implicate anyone else.”

Large’s scholarship job during law school was serving breakfast in Columbia’s graduate women’s dorm. When Mary Mitchell Westall, a Masters candidate from Asheville, NC, walked in one morning, “she smiled at me, and that was it,” Large said. Married in 1937, the Larges enjoyed 72 years together.

During World War II, Large served in the Signal Corps, where he wrote military-supply contracts permitting industrial giants like General Electric to do business with the Army.

In 1940, Large joined his uncle and the late Sidney Kirschen in his uncle’s firm. Judge Large’s death on Christmas Eve, 1958, was soon followed by Kirschen’s. This loss was keenly felt by Large, and the community. Large subsequently invited Scott Scammell and Robert Danziger to join him in forming Large, Scammell and Danziger, where he worked until his retirement in 1997.

After Judge Large’s death, his nephew became Registered Agent for more than 55 of America’s major corporations, including Eastman Kodak, Standard Oil (now Exxon/Mobil), Quaker Oats, and American Tobacco. Through the 1960s, many of these corporations held their annual meetings at various Flemington locations.

As an attorney, Large earned a reputation for honesty, commitment and skill, serving as president of the Hunterdon County Bar association, and with distinction on the Judicial Appointments- and Unauthorized Practice Committees of the NJ Bar association. He was also active in local and state Republican politics, and was Hunterdon County Counsel for more than 50 years.

Mr. Large also held many positions of civic leadership. He led the board of the Hunterdon County National Bank, was a trustee and life member of the Hunterdon County Historical Society, a member and secretary of the Lions Club, an early member and director of Copper Hill Country Club, an officer and director of the Hunterdon County YMCA, and an early and enthusiastic supporter of the Hunterdon Medical Center.

From its founding under Judge Large’s will in 1959, until 2001, Large also served as president of the Large Foundation, one of the area’s key philanthropies. When area Boy Scouts recognized him as Distinguished Citizen of the Year in 1978, Large’s contributions to the state were recognized by then-current governor Brendan Byrne, and three of his predecessors.

Ed also maintained a lifelong interest in sports; an interest he said he inherited from his two grandfathers. His father’s father, NJ Senator George H. Large, played for Rutgers in the first inter-collegiate football game in 1869. His mother’s father, Charles T. Page, was a professional first-baseman behind the pitching of the great Al Spalding, with whom he later owned the Chicago Cubs. As a varsity baseball player at Taft and Columbia, Ed also played first base. He recalled meeting Lou Gehrig, who had previously played first base for Columbia, at a campus event. “I asked him for advice on playing my position,” Large said. “He told me that we should field better and score more runs than the opposition!”

In Flemington, Ed helped develop the Copper Hill golf course, where he shot his last hole-in-one at age 78, establishing a new course record. He also played a key role in founding the South Hunterdon Little League, where he was the pitching coach for the Sacks Busters. He remained proud of his “boys,” who won six consecutive pennants in the 1950s.

In his rare free time, Large taught himself to be a master furniture-maker, turning out widely sought-after Colonial Williamsburg reproductions.

Mr. Large is survived by two daughters, Marianne L. Newman of Asheville, NC, and Catherine L. Wetstein (Mrs. Arthur) of Raritan Township; and a son, John R. Large, and his wife, Aileen, of Princeton.

A private graveside service will be scheduled in Asheville, NC. In lieu of flowers, friends may send donations to the Hunterdon County Historical Society, 114 Main Street, Flemington, NJ 08822, or The Hunterdon Medical Center Foundation, 2100 Westcott Drive, Flemington, NJ 08822.

Please visit www.holcombefisher.com for further information or to send condolences.