Obituaries : Edward Gardiner Latch; Ex-Chaplain of House of Representatives

Edward Gardiner Latch, 92, chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1967 to 1978. A United Methodist minister, Latch performed the White House wedding of Tricia Nixon, President Richard M. Nixon’s elder daughter, to Edward Finch Cox in 1971. As chaplain, Latch opened daily House sessions with prayer or served as host and escort to visiting clergymen invited to offer the invocation. He also counseled representatives and their staffs on personal problems. Before his tenure in the House, Latch was a minister in the Washington, D.C., area for 43 years. On April 9 in Gaithersburg, Md., of a heart ailment.