Dear Friends,
The Philadelphia Society mourns the death on Friday, July 18, 2025, of its last living founder, Edwin J. Feulner, Jr.
We do not yet have information regarding plans for Ed’s funeral or other memorial services. As soon as we learn of the arrangements we will notify members of the Society.
Together with William F. Buckley, Jr., Milton Friedman, Don Lipsett, and Frank Meyer, Ed brought the Philadelphia Society into being in 1964.
He went on to be elected a Distinguished Member of the Society; to serve several terms as a Trustee of the Society; and twice to be elected its President.
| Edwin J. Feulner, Jr. 1941-2025 Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. |
I first met Ed circa 1970, more than half a century ago, when I was a teen-aged college student visiting Capitol Hill. Ed was then chief of staff to Congressman Phil Crane (R-Illinois), whom I had called on to interview for my campus newspaper. The congressman was unavailable, so Ed offered himself in Mr. Crane’s place. Ed explained the controversy of the day thoroughly to my satisfaction and to that of my editors — indeed, so much so that my interview of Ed made front-page news back at The University of Chicago.
Ed Feulner treated a snot-nosed college kid as if he were an important personage. We remained in regular contact from that day until his death. I soon discovered that he treated everyone that way — with kindness and courtesy.
Ed is perhaps best known as one of the founders and long (more than 35 years) the president of the Heritage Foundation, one of the flagship institutions of the modern conservative movement.
Ed was a prime builder of that movement. Firmly believing in Richard Weaver’s proposition that “ideas have consequences,” Ed was a former and proponent of ideas, on both a wholesale scale and at retail, willing to take a worthwhile conversation long into the night.
The Heritage Foundation has posted a tribute to, and biography of, Ed which can be found here: https://www.heritage.org/
Skillful as he was at building and guiding institutions, he was also a teacher and inspirer of individuals. How many scholars, administrators, policy analysts, and policy advocates got their first — and second and third — chances because Ed gave them to them!
What mattered to Ed, as it mattered to Milton Friedman, was not one’s age, one’s sex, one’s race, or one’s paper credentials, but the quality of one’s thinking and one’s ability to advocate for an idea.
Over the years Ed and I saw each other at numerous conferences and in countless meetings of boards and committees. At public meetings one would invariably find him in a front row, paying close attention to the proceedings and taking notes. At a board meeting one would find him across the table, giving his full attention to whoever was speaking.
Ed Feulner’s face — fully tuned in — was an invaluable signboard of encouragement and caution, allowing one to edit oneself and to improve in action. If one made a good joke, Ed got it and laughed heartily; if one scored a good point, Ed nodded and smiled broadly; if one confused an issue or let a predicate drift away from its subject, Ed would squint and show visible signs of difficulty in following one’s argument; if one’s thesis sailed too close to the wind, the kindly smile would never leave Ed’s face but his arched eyebrow would speak volumes.
Our hearts go out to Ed’s institutional colleagues and, of course, to his beloved wife, Linda, and all their family.
We will forever remember Ed Feulner as a superb builder of institutions and as a fearless advocate of ideas — ideas that always favored freedom, civilization, and human dignity. Above all, however, we will always remember Ed as a true and treasured friend.
Best,
Joseph A. Morris
2025-26 President of The Philadelphia Society