People
Notable People
Edgar Hahn - Partner of Hahn Loeser & Parks
10200 Lake Shore Boulevard
Edgar A. Hahn was a lawyer whose contributions to Cleveland extended beyond the legal community to embrace cultural, civic, philanthropic, and educational endeavors.
Edgar Aaron Hahn was born on November 4, 1882, in Cleveland to Aaron and Therese Hahn. He attended Cleveland Public Schools, graduating from Central High School. He earned an L.L.B. degree from Western Reserve University in 1903 and did post-graduate work at Columbia University. Upon admittance to the Ohio bar in 1904, he started practicing law with his father.
In 1912, the new state constitution enabled Ohio cities to adopt their own charters. At the September elections, Cleveland voters determined to assume the powers of self-government and elected Hahn to the commission responsible for forming a home-rule charter for the city.
Edgar Hahn joined the law firm of Mooney, Hahn, Loeser & Keough as a senior partner in 1920. The firm eventually became Hahn, Loeser, Freedheim, Dean & Wellman.
As a lawyer, Hahn possessed an instinctive appreciation of the relationship between banking and society and played a major role in untangling the confusion produced in Cleveland by the national bank holiday of 1933.
In 1986, Hahn, Loeser, Freedheim, Dean & Wellman, joined with Parks, Eisele, Bates & Wilsman to form Hahn Loeser & Parks with approximately 65 lawyers becoming Cleveland’s 8th largest law firm.
Hahn was a founder and original trustee of the Northern Ohio Opera Association in 1927 and helped assure Cleveland would be a stop on the Metropolitan Opera’s annual spring tour. In 1963, the Northern Ohio Opera Association honored Hahn by making him its first honorary life trustee.
As vice-chairman of the Musical Arts Association, Hahn helped initiate the tradition of summer concerts by the Cleveland Orchestra in 1938. In 1959, he was appointed a trustee of the Cleveland Museum of Art and was chiefly responsible for its acquisition of a number of fine 18th-century paintings.
Hahn also served as treasurer and trustee of the Louis D. Beaumont Foundation. In April 1964, and was elected director of National City Bank in 1921.
Hahn was presented the Cleveland Medal for Public Service by the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce for his many noteworthy achievements of immeasurable value to the community. In 1967, he was selected Senior Citizen of the Year.
His hobby was being a fastidious collector of rare books.
In 1910, Edgar married Irene Moss, the sister of Beatrice Moss Loeser who lived next door at 10214 Lake Shore Boulevard. Irene was born on February 7, 1884, in St. Louis, Missouri. Edgar and Irene had two daughters: Alice (Goodman) born on January 13, 1913, and Katherine (Bercovici) born on February 20, 1916. Both attended the Bratenahl School followed by Hathaway Brown School.
Irene died on September 25, 1939, in Bratenahl. Edgar died on July 16, 1970. Both are buried in Mayfield Cemetery.