Edgar Huler

Early in the morning of November 6, 2019, Edgar Huler, 89, of Taylors, SC, died peacefully in his sleep of complications of Parkinson’s Disease and pancreatic disease. He was surrounded by his loving family, who had all made time to be near him in his last months and come to be with him as his death neared. 

Edgar was born in 1930 in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, son of Oscar and Lillian Huler, who had emigrated to the United States from Hungary in the late 1920s. The family settled in Cleveland, where Edgar had his bar mitzvah and graduated from Cleveland Heights High School, where he enjoyed running track. He afterwards graduated from Adelbert College of Case Western Reserve University and served in the navy. 

He spent his life working in various administrative positions, generally in health care, where his gift for organization and management kept many organizations running smoothly. His enormous personal charm and love of talk and friendship made him beloved in the organizations where he worked as well as in every community and every synagogue he belonged to.

He lived for many years in the Cleveland area, where he married Rachel (Eisenberg) Lesser in 1955. With her he raised three children: Michael, 62, of Columbus; Scott, 60, of Raleigh; and Lori, 58, of New York. His cordial and comfortable relationship with Rachel was the product of years of effort, and his children appreciated the effort he made to accept complicated feelings and allow them to grow towards comfort. 

He married Lynnette in 1978, and in 1981 they had Sarah, 38, of Simpsonville, SC. After Sarah left for college Edgar and Lynn’s lives led them to the Twin Cities in Minnesota and then to Taylors, near Greenville, SC, when they have lived for the last decade, near Lynn’s sister Debra and her husband Henry and near Sarah, who lived in Asheville. Closeness to Sarah brought joy to Edgar in his later years, and Sarah’s move to the Greenville area brought him tremendous comfort during the final months of his illness. 

Edgar worked well into his 80s and kept exercising–running, then walking, then walking with a series of progressively more elaborate walkers–until the Parkinson’s finally prevented him from exercising in his final months. He volunteered at Greenville Memorial Hospital until his last year or two, even being named volunteer of the month. 

To say that especially near his end he had a special relationship with Sarah is only to say that each of his children enjoyed a unique and deep connection with him, and to each other. He was proud of Michael and Sarah’s work as teachers, Lori’s in real estate, and Scott’s as a writer. Edgar’s children never questioned his love or support for them, and his communities knew him as a giving person who loved to talk and have fun. His synagogue community provided a special source of comfort for him throughout his life, though his Beth Israel community in Greenville gave him an especially profound level of affection and love, which was entirely mutual.

Of his beloved Cleveland Browns one might say only that he shared his passion with all his children, who to this day communicate during Browns games, mostly sadly, though they now have a new reason for sadness that has nothing to do with the brown and orange. The claim that he requested six members of the Browns to be pallbearers so that they might let him down one last time is a scurrilous lie. Though Edgar has died, the Browns will never stop letting him down.

Edgar was a beloved husband, adored father, embraced friend, and delightful companion. His family and community will be saddened by his departure but forever enriched by his contributions. 

He is survived by his wife, Lynnette, and by his children and their spouses, and by six beloved grandchildren: Benny and Rebecca, children of Michael (and his wife Ann Rottersman; Cooper and Allison, children of Lori (and her husband Todd Glick); and Louis and Augustus, children of Scott (and his wife June Spence).

Service will be held Friday at 10 a.m. at Congregation Beth Israel, 425 Summit Dr., Greenville, SC, 29609. Graveside service will follow at Beth Israel Cemetery, with shivah minyon to follow back at Congregation Beth Israel. In lieu of flowers the grateful family requests donations be made to the Parkinson’s Foundation (parkinson.org) or Congregation Beth Israel (https://www.bethisraelsc.org/). The family will sit shivah at 11 Dolerite, Taylors, SC, 29687, receiving visitors on Saturday and Sunday from 2 pm to 8 pm, with shivah minyons at 6:30 p.m. both evenings.