Edwin S. Small
October 30, 1919 – January 20, 2022
Denver Rotary Club 31 Member – 48 years
“Paper – Corrugated Shipping Containers”
Compiled and read by Steve Mast, February 24, 2022
Today we have the opportunity to celebrate the life of one of our friends and fellow Rotarians – Ed Small.
Ed died peacefully on January 20 of this year in Scottsdale, Arizona. Ed’s son Stephen told me that he got pneumonia symptoms and died three days later…at the age of 102 years and 85 days! As I told Stephen, where do I sign up – live a rich & active 102 years and peacefully pass away three days after getting sick!
Ed was a true Denver Native. He graduated from South High School. Next he graduated from Dartmouth College, then from Tuck School of Business, then went into the Navy. He rose to the rank of Lt Commander serving in WW II and the Korean war. Ed commanded a submarine chaser and an oil refueling tanker during the wars.
I knew Ed as a fellow Rotarian for my 40 years of his 48 years as a member of Club 31. As any of you who knew Ed can relate to, whenever I saw Ed at a meeting I would make sure that I said “hi”. He had an infectious smile and always had some fun activity to report on. He was an avid skier and skied until he was 87 years old. He loved to ride his horse “Rusty”. He also enjoyed hiking, hunting and golf. He stopped driving at the age of 99! I remember one time that I saw him at the Rotary office – when he was pretty close to being 99. I walked him down to his car and watched as he skillfully maneuvered his car out of the parking lot. It’s my understanding that he was a pretty good driver up until he gave it up. But I still found myself looking up to the heavens as he drove off, for a little help getting him home safely!
Many of you may remember on Ed’s 100th birthday, we took a group picture at one of our meetings and signed a card for Ed. Darlene and Lauren and I took the picture, card and some birthday cake over to Ed. He could not have been more excited – we spent almost two hours talking with him. It gave all three of us a rich understanding of what the “Family of Rotary” really means!
Ed enjoyed a successful business career. He joined the Remington Arms plant after graduating from Tuck. Following the wars, he worked for the Frink Cramer Creamery, then for the Inland Paper Company and finally retired from Packaging Corporation of America.
Ed was always generous with his time and money. He was a Denver Rotary Club Foundation Gold Fellow and The Rotary Foundation PHF+4. He was very active with Denver Kids and was awarded their “Rotarian of the Year” in 2004. Ed was also involved with the Boys & Girls Club of Denver where he served on their Board and as their Treasurer.
When Ed was introduced as a new Denver Rotary Club member 48 years ago, his Sponsor said, and I quote, “All, I believe, will agree that no matter on what level they had contact with Ed, they have found him to be a great person to know, a person of high integrity and a hard worker in many areas – he is one of the good ones!”, end quote. I couldn’t agree more – Ed was one of the “Good Guys” and will be missed!
This Resolution was accepted by a standing vote of the members of The Rotary Club of Denver and others at the Warwick on February 24, 2022.