Madeleine R. Large | Lawyer, 81

Madeleine Redditt Large, 81, a former lawyer who was among the first women to graduate from what is now St. Joseph's University, died July 5 at St. Francis Hospital in Hartford, Conn., from complications following a series of falls. Mrs. Large resided in Hartford and in Boca Raton, Fla.

One of six children, Mrs. Large grew up in Havertown and graduated from Notre Dame High School in Moylan. She enrolled in the evening division of St. Joseph's College in 1946 and became one of the school's first woman graduates in 1950, earning a bachelor's degree in social studies. She also was among the first women to graduate from its night school.

Mrs. Large went on to earn a law degree from the University of Maryland in 1954 and joined the Wall Street law firm Shearman & Shearman as a trial lawyer. It was there she met her husband, Edward W. Large Jr., an executive with United Technologies, which provides technology to aerospace and building industries.

Mrs. Large later opened her own Wall Street law firm, Cray & Redditt, and during that time she often appeared as a trial attorney on the daytime drama

The Verdict Is Yours.

In 1960, she and her husband relocated from New York City to Hartford, and she gave up her law practice to raise five children.

In 1979, Mrs. Large was selected to serve a three-year term on St. Joseph's board of directors.

In addition to her husband, Mrs. Large is survived by sons Ed, Chris and Gus; a daughter, Jennifer; seven grandchildren; a brother; and a sister.

Another son, Gregory, died in 1997.

Services were July 10 in Hartford. Burial was private.