Edward J. Cooke Jr.

Edward J. Cooke, Jr., retired attorney of East Goshen, West Chester, PA, died on Tuesday, June 21, 2011, at Wellington Terrace. He was married to Adele M. Cooke for nearly 58 years and had three children: Michele C. Jordan (Robert) of Pound Ridge, NY, Suzanne C. Pettit (Donald) of Berwyn, PA, and Edward J. Cooke, III (Carole) of Cork, Ireland. He is also survived by six grandchildren: Kate, Matthew and Julie Jordan and Lauren, Andrew and Michael Pettit.

Mr. Cooke was the son of Cora MacBeth Cooke and Edward J. Cooke and the brother of Evelyn Connelly (Joseph) and Corinne, all of whom pre-deceased him. Edward’s father was a member of the Pennsylvania Legislature (House of Representatives) from 1926 to 1934. He represented the 6th, 8th and 9th Wards of Philadelphia from their home at Tenth and Spruce Streets.

Edward was graduated from Friends Select School in 1941, and also attended the William Penn Charter School. He was graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1947 (rather than 1945 because of his medalled United States Air Force service as a pilot of B-25’s in the Pacific Theatre during World War II), and the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1950. Two of his children (Suzanne and Edward) followed their father’s study of law by graduating from the University of Connecticut School of Law.

Edward Cooke, Jr. practiced law at Swartz, Campbell & Henry in Philadelphia, then as Corporate Counsel for the Pennsylvania Power Co. in New Castle, PA. He then moved to Connecticut and was an attorney at Davis, Polk & Wardwell in New York City, where he represented major tobacco companies. Before his retirement he was in private practice in Darien, CT, where he and his family lived for 37 years.

For many years Edward was a member of the Representative Town Meeting in Darien, serving on the Rules, Education, and Finance and Budget Committees. He was known for his effective oratory in fighting excessive tax increases despite opposition from the “profligate spenders.” As a Darien resident wrote today, “Ed was a great man who was always brave enough to do what was right even though he knew it would get him a lot of grief.” He was an exemplar of true patriotism, courage and selflessness.

Edward was a member of the Church of the Good Shepherd in Rosemont.

The internment will be private at Whitemarsh Memorial Park. The family requests no memorial contributions unless to a charity of one’s choice.