EDWARD ALBERT FLECKENSTEIN, attorney and historian, was born on 27 November 1919 in the house in Weehawken, New Jersey that was to be his home for the next eighty-eight years. His parents were Edward Ferdinand and Marguerite (nee Grumbach) Fleckenstein, Jersey City natives who had moved to King Avenue in Weehawken shortly before Edward's birth.
Edward's education took place exclusively in Catholic schools, beginning with St. Aloysius and St. Peter's Prep; in Jersey City. He earned a bachelor's degree in economics at Fordham University in 1941 and his J.D. at Fordham's Law School in 1943. A long hospitalization prevented his service in World War II.
Following the war, the young lawyer was active in various causes on the conservative side of the political spectrum, firm in his belief that Communism was the new threat to America and that many innocent Germans had suffered under Nazi tyranny. He served as attorney for a "Committee to Free Ezra Pound," the poet who was detained in a mental hospital for his pro-Axis views while residing in Rome during World War II, and worked for Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy. At a rally in Chicago in late 1949, Edward Fleckenstein spoke against the allies' dismantling of German factories, sharing a stage with then Representative Everett Dirksen. He even traveled to Germany to help its recovery and the reestablishment of democratic institutions, but was forced to return home when the American Zone occupation authorities lifted his passport.
Later Edward settled down and established a law office in the Heights section of Jersey City, where he specialized in estates and corporate law. He became active in local issues, and helped prevent the construction of a huge apartment building on the Palisades that would have overwhelmed the historic homes of his Weehawken neighborhood. He was elected to the Charter Study Commission that restructured the government of Weehawken Township in 1982, and served as the first director of Weehawken's senior housing complex on Gregory Avenue. In later years he was appointed as the first chairman of the Weehawken Historical Commission. Meanwhile, he was active in German-American organizations and sponsored a float in the annual Steuben Day Parade in Manhattan, as well as serving as an Associate Editor of "Der Volksrivund," a weekly German-American newspaper based in Buffalo. He did extensive research on his mainly German genealogy, and claimed a connection with an ancient Fleckenstein Castle now located just inside France in Alsace.
In November 2007, the still active attorney, historian and writer fell victim to a massive stroke which left him unable to speak or move his right side. However, he remained mentally alert, and enjoyed reading and listening to music. He traded his lifelong home with its view directly across the Hudson to 42nd Street in Manhattan for a window bed at the Harborage Nursing Home in North Bergen, where he enjoyed watching the boat traffic a little further up the river.
A lifelong bachelor, Edward is survived by his devoted brother A. George Fleckenstein, and many close friends and good neighbors. He was predeceased by a sister, Helen, who succumbed in 1918 to scarlet fever at the age of three. Generous to a fault, he will be most remembered for his kindness to those in need, especially German immigrants.
Edward's education took place exclusively in Catholic schools, beginning with St. Aloysius and St. Peter's Prep; in Jersey City. He earned a bachelor's degree in economics at Fordham University in 1941 and his J.D. at Fordham's Law School in 1943. A long hospitalization prevented his service in World War II.
Following the war, the young lawyer was active in various causes on the conservative side of the political spectrum, firm in his belief that Communism was the new threat to America and that many innocent Germans had suffered under Nazi tyranny. He served as attorney for a "Committee to Free Ezra Pound," the poet who was detained in a mental hospital for his pro-Axis views while residing in Rome during World War II, and worked for Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy. At a rally in Chicago in late 1949, Edward Fleckenstein spoke against the allies' dismantling of German factories, sharing a stage with then Representative Everett Dirksen. He even traveled to Germany to help its recovery and the reestablishment of democratic institutions, but was forced to return home when the American Zone occupation authorities lifted his passport.
Later Edward settled down and established a law office in the Heights section of Jersey City, where he specialized in estates and corporate law. He became active in local issues, and helped prevent the construction of a huge apartment building on the Palisades that would have overwhelmed the historic homes of his Weehawken neighborhood. He was elected to the Charter Study Commission that restructured the government of Weehawken Township in 1982, and served as the first director of Weehawken's senior housing complex on Gregory Avenue. In later years he was appointed as the first chairman of the Weehawken Historical Commission. Meanwhile, he was active in German-American organizations and sponsored a float in the annual Steuben Day Parade in Manhattan, as well as serving as an Associate Editor of "Der Volksrivund," a weekly German-American newspaper based in Buffalo. He did extensive research on his mainly German genealogy, and claimed a connection with an ancient Fleckenstein Castle now located just inside France in Alsace.
In November 2007, the still active attorney, historian and writer fell victim to a massive stroke which left him unable to speak or move his right side. However, he remained mentally alert, and enjoyed reading and listening to music. He traded his lifelong home with its view directly across the Hudson to 42nd Street in Manhattan for a window bed at the Harborage Nursing Home in North Bergen, where he enjoyed watching the boat traffic a little further up the river.
A lifelong bachelor, Edward is survived by his devoted brother A. George Fleckenstein, and many close friends and good neighbors. He was predeceased by a sister, Helen, who succumbed in 1918 to scarlet fever at the age of three. Generous to a fault, he will be most remembered for his kindness to those in need, especially German immigrants.
EDWARD ALBERT FLECKENSTEIN, attorney and historian, was born on 27 November 1919 in the house in Weehawken, New Jersey that was to be his home for the next eighty-eight years. His parents were Edward Ferdinand and Marguerite (nee Grumbach) Fleckenstein, Jersey City natives who had moved to King Avenue in Weehawken shortly before Edward's birth.
Edward's education took place exclusively in Catholic schools, beginning with St. Aloysius and St. Peter's Prep; in Jersey City. He earned a bachelor's degree in economics at Fordham University in 1941 and his J.D. at Fordham's Law School in 1943. A long hospitalization prevented his service in World War II.
Following the war, the young lawyer was active in various causes on the conservative side of the political spectrum, firm in his belief that Communism was the new threat to America and that many innocent Germans had suffered under Nazi tyranny. He served as attorney for a "Committee to Free Ezra Pound," the poet who was detained in a mental hospital for his pro-Axis views while residing in Rome during World War II, and worked for Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy. At a rally in Chicago in late 1949, Edward Fleckenstein spoke against the allies' dismantling of German factories, sharing a stage with then Representative Everett Dirksen. He even traveled to Germany to help its recovery and the reestablishment of democratic institutions, but was forced to return home when the American Zone occupation authorities lifted his passport.
Later Edward settled down and established a law office in the Heights section of Jersey City, where he specialized in estates and corporate law. He became active in local issues, and helped prevent the construction of a huge apartment building on the Palisades that would have overwhelmed the historic homes of his Weehawken neighborhood. He was elected to the Charter Study Commission that restructured the government of Weehawken Township in 1982, and served as the first director of Weehawken's senior housing complex on Gregory Avenue. In later years he was appointed as the first chairman of the Weehawken Historical Commission. Meanwhile, he was active in German-American organizations and sponsored a float in the annual Steuben Day Parade in Manhattan, as well as serving as an Associate Editor of "Der Volksrivund," a weekly German-American newspaper based in Buffalo. He did extensive research on his mainly German genealogy, and claimed a connection with an ancient Fleckenstein Castle now located just inside France in Alsace.
In November 2007, the still active attorney, historian and writer fell victim to a massive stroke which left him unable to speak or move his right side. However, he remained mentally alert, and enjoyed reading and listening to music. He traded his lifelong home with its view directly across the Hudson to 42nd Street in Manhattan for a window bed at the Harborage Nursing Home in North Bergen, where he enjoyed watching the boat traffic a little further up the river.
A lifelong bachelor, Edward is survived by his devoted brother A. George Fleckenstein, and many close friends and good neighbors. He was predeceased by a sister, Helen, who succumbed in 1918 to scarlet fever at the age of three. Generous to a fault, he will be most remembered for his kindness to those in need, especially German immigrants.
Edward's education took place exclusively in Catholic schools, beginning with St. Aloysius and St. Peter's Prep; in Jersey City. He earned a bachelor's degree in economics at Fordham University in 1941 and his J.D. at Fordham's Law School in 1943. A long hospitalization prevented his service in World War II.
Following the war, the young lawyer was active in various causes on the conservative side of the political spectrum, firm in his belief that Communism was the new threat to America and that many innocent Germans had suffered under Nazi tyranny. He served as attorney for a "Committee to Free Ezra Pound," the poet who was detained in a mental hospital for his pro-Axis views while residing in Rome during World War II, and worked for Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy. At a rally in Chicago in late 1949, Edward Fleckenstein spoke against the allies' dismantling of German factories, sharing a stage with then Representative Everett Dirksen. He even traveled to Germany to help its recovery and the reestablishment of democratic institutions, but was forced to return home when the American Zone occupation authorities lifted his passport.
Later Edward settled down and established a law office in the Heights section of Jersey City, where he specialized in estates and corporate law. He became active in local issues, and helped prevent the construction of a huge apartment building on the Palisades that would have overwhelmed the historic homes of his Weehawken neighborhood. He was elected to the Charter Study Commission that restructured the government of Weehawken Township in 1982, and served as the first director of Weehawken's senior housing complex on Gregory Avenue. In later years he was appointed as the first chairman of the Weehawken Historical Commission. Meanwhile, he was active in German-American organizations and sponsored a float in the annual Steuben Day Parade in Manhattan, as well as serving as an Associate Editor of "Der Volksrivund," a weekly German-American newspaper based in Buffalo. He did extensive research on his mainly German genealogy, and claimed a connection with an ancient Fleckenstein Castle now located just inside France in Alsace.
In November 2007, the still active attorney, historian and writer fell victim to a massive stroke which left him unable to speak or move his right side. However, he remained mentally alert, and enjoyed reading and listening to music. He traded his lifelong home with its view directly across the Hudson to 42nd Street in Manhattan for a window bed at the Harborage Nursing Home in North Bergen, where he enjoyed watching the boat traffic a little further up the river.
A lifelong bachelor, Edward is survived by his devoted brother A. George Fleckenstein, and many close friends and good neighbors. He was predeceased by a sister, Helen, who succumbed in 1918 to scarlet fever at the age of three. Generous to a fault, he will be most remembered for his kindness to those in need, especially German immigrants.
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