EDWARD H. HATCH 1941-1945

(From the Sunday, September 3, 1961 Duluth News-Tribune)

Services Slated Tuesday for E. H. Hatch

Funeral services for Edward H Hatch, 79, a former mayor of both Duluth and Eveleth and area Republican leader, who died in his Duluth home Saturday morning, will be at 1 p.m. Tuesday in Endion Methodist Church.

Masonic services will be held at 3:30 p.m. in the Masonic Temple in Eveleth, with burial in the Eveleth cemetery.

Pallbearers will be Roland Davey, Arthur Naslund and John Owens, all of Eveleth, and Alfred Johnson, Robert B. Morris and Arthur Nelson, all of Duluth.

Mr. Hatch resided with his wife, the former Ella Talboys, at 4218 Robinson St. They were married in Eveleth in April 20, 1909. Besides his wife, he also is survived by a brother, John, Chisholm.

Mr. Hatch had served three terms on the Eveleth City Counsil and was mayor of the Iron Range community from 1918-1920. He was mayor of Duluth during the war years 1941-45.

He was born Aug. 24, 1882 in Truro, Devonshire, England, and came to the United States with his parents and brothers, John and Frank, in 1887, when the family settled in Crystal Falls, Mich.

In 1902 he was hired by the Oliver Iron Mining Co. as a chemist and ordered to report to Two Harbors. En route to Two Harbors, he received a telegram ordering him to Eveleth. He served as an OIM chemist in Eveleth and Hibbing, before going to work as a clerk at the Spruce Mine in 1906. In 1906, he was appointed cashier at the Spruce Mine.

Mr. Hatch served as Eveleth postmaster from 1911 to 1914.

On April 15, 1915, he was named an agent for the New York Life Insurance Co., a job he held for most of the next 45 years. He was secretary of the Eveleth Selective Service Board during World War I.

Mr. Hatch moved to Duluth in 1921. After his wartime years as mayor, he served for a time as city park superintendent. He was chairman of the St. Louis County Republican Party from 1936 to 1941.

The former mayor never missed a Fourth of July celebration in Eveleth and this year attended his 60th consecutive celebration. Each year at the corner of Jones and Grant in Eveleth, Mr. Hatch would hold "open house," greeting his countless Range friends. In recent years he was always given the honor of leading the Fourth of July parade. He always wore a red rose in his lapel.

Mr. Hatch was one of the outstanding rose grower in Duluth and won national recognition for his roses. On Aug. 30, the Minnesota Horticultural Society presented him with the bronze medal of the American Rose Society, one of three such awards made annually.

He was cited for "pioneering study and popularization" of rose culture. The citation further recognized him for his maintenance of a large test garden "of exceptional quality and educational value," and his service in organization of the first Duluth rose show, his work on show committees for the last 18 years, and his activity in the group that started the first state show of the Minnesota Rose Society.

He was frequently called upon to lecture on roses and was given much credit for the increase in the number of roses planted throughout the city.

Mr. Hatch was very interested in athletics, was predient of the Duluth Dukes baseball club in the 30s, and for many years was affiliated with Iron Range baseball and hockey leagues.

Mr. Hatch was a member of the Eveleth Masonic Lodge, Duluth Scottish Rite bodies and Aad Temple of the Shrine. He also was a member of the Duluth Elks Lodge and the American Rose Society.