M. W. Brother Edward William Kuns, was born near Woodville, Ohio, on September 13, 1905, the eldest of two children born to Peter F. and Alma Kuns. When he was five years of age he moved with his parents to Paulding County where he resided the remainder of his life.
He attended rural school in Blue Creek Township and graduated from Payne High School in 1922, after which he attended the universities of Michigan and Ohio State.
On May 19, 1930, he and Miss Iris Henschen of Payne, Ohio were married. To this union four children were born, three daughters and one son.
Soon after beginning the practice of law in Paulding he was elected prosecuting attorney, a position he held for eight years. He was elected common pleas judge of the county for a term of six years in 1950.
Being engaged during the 1930’s with his parents as a large-scale turkey grower, he served the Ohio State Turkey Growers’ Association as president in 1938 and was superintendent of the turkey show at the World’s Poultry Exposition in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1939.
He was an active and faithful member of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church at Paulding, a member of its board of trustees, and a former teacher and superintendent of its Sunday School. He was a member of The American Judicature Society, Paulding County Bar Association, former president of the Northwestern Ohio Bar Association, and a former member of the House of Delegates of the Ohio State Bar Association.
He was active in civic affairs, having served as chairman of civilian defense during World War II and chairman of the Paulding County Polio Chapter in 1952 and 1953. He was a member of the Lion’s Club of Paulding and other civic and fraternal groups.
He was made a Master Mason in Flat Rock Lodge No. 580 at Payne, Ohio, on June 28, 1927, and installed as Worshipful Master of that Lodge on December 8, 1936. He was a member of Paulding Chapter No. 165, R. A. M.; Van Wert Council No. 73, R. & S. M.; Ivanhoe Commandery No. 54, K. T., at Van Wert; and a member of the Valley of Toledo, Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite. He was crowned an Honorary Member of the Supreme Council, 33rd, at Boston, Massachusetts, on September 26, 1945.
He was also a member of Corona Chapter No. 95, O. E. S., and a member of Zenobia Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S.; an honorary member of Tadmor Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., Akron, Ohio; and held honorary membership in many Lodges in Ohio.
He was appointed District Deputy Grand Master in the Fourth Masonic District in 1943 and re-appointed in 1944 and 1945. In the Grand Lodge he was appointed Junior Grand Deacon in 1947, Senior Grand Deacon in 1948, Grand Marshal in 1949, and Grand Orator in 1950. He was elected Junior Grand Warden in 1951, Senior Grand Warden in 1952, Deputy Grand Master in 1953, and on October 16, 1954, at Cleveland, Ohio, he was elected and installed as Grand Master of Masons in Ohio.
Ed Kuns was a friendly man, possessed of a rare sense of humor and was loved by all who knew him. He was a just and upright man and an outstanding citizen who always gave generously of his time and services for the worthwhile things of life.
M. W. Brother Kuns Departed this life suddenly on Sunday, March 4, 1956, at Bradenton, Florida, where he and Mrs. Kuns had arrived the day before for a short vacation. Services were held at St, James Lutheran Church in Payne, Ohio, on March 8, with Rev. Herbert S. Garnes, Jr., of Van Wert, who had served as Grand Chaplain with him the year before, in charge. Burial was made in Wiltsie Cemetery at Payne, Ohio.