Edward Mendler of Wayland, Mass., died Dec. 30, 2013, at his home.

Ed graduated magna cum laude from Princeton in 1949 and received a law degree from Harvard Law School in 1952. He served 27 months in the Navy during World War II.

He practiced law with the firm of Nutter McClennen & Fish for more than 50 years, specializing in real estate. Ed put together the Northeast Corridor for Amtrak as well as what was then the biggest real-estate transaction ever signed in Boston: the sale of the Bank of Boston building in 1984. He enjoyed representing the firm in Tokyo and Amsterdam.

In the 1950s, Ed was a founding member of the Wayland committee on fair housing and served as the first president of Massachusetts Fair Housing.

Ed summered on MacMahan Island in Maine for over four decades. In 1991 and 1993 he captained his yacht, Honour Bound , in the Marion (Mass.) to Bermuda cruising yacht races. Ed’s unflagging quest for knowledge led his active life of the mind into new areas of research and writing.  

This very interesting and talented man is survived by his wife, Mary Grew; his sister, Jeanne Davies; four children; and nine grandchildren. The class extends its deepest sympathy to them all.

Undergraduate Class of 1947