The Heritage Foundation today released this statement upon the death of Edward E. Noble:

“Ed Noble was a man of exceptional foresight and generosity,” said Heritage Foundation President Jim DeMint. “One of our three founders, he was willing to invest in what then was just an idea—a research institute devoted to solving the nation’s great problems by advancing policies based on conservative principles.

“Heritage has since grown and thrived, thanks not just to his initial support but with the aid of his continuing support. His name is inscribed in our Founders’ Hall, and we at Heritage will honor him always.”

Said Heritage Founder and former president Ed Feulner, “Ed Noble has been a friend, a supporter and a valued adviser to me personally since the early 1960s.

“In the Washington of the early 1970s, there was no less promising investment than a start-up, conservative think tank. Ed was just what we and the country needed: a risk-taker with vision, and the willingness to back his principles with his wallet.

“He was a rock. And when I was elected president of Heritage in April 1977, he was one of the first persons from whom I sought counsel.

“Ed Noble was a rare human being—a great and modest man. Above all, he was a patriot.  May he rest in peace.”

NOTE: In 1998, The Heritage Foundation awarded Edward E Noble its highest honor: the Clare Boothe Luce medal for extraordinary commitment, exhibited over many decades, to maintaining and advancing a free society.