OBITUARY:
Mary Edwards Brandt
September 26, 1919 - November 21, 2008
Salem – Mary Edwards Brandt of Salem died November 21, 2008. She was born in Vladivostok, Russia of Greek and Russian lineage. Her parents fled the Russian Revolution and moved to Shanghai, China, when she was seven months. She attended French and English private schools in Tsingtao and Shanghai, graduating from McCormick’s Business College. She was employed by Kelly & Walsh, Ltd., a British publishing house, and by the U. S. Consulate General, Department of Commerce, as secretary to the Registrar, China Trade Act and Trade Commissioner.
In 1941, Mrs. Brandt joined her first husband, Warrant Officer J. F. Edwards, U. S. Marine Corps, in Manila, Philippines, where she was secretary to the Business Manager of the Army and Navy YMCA. She was taken prisoner of war shortly after Pearl Harbor and was interned for three years in both Santo Tomas and Los Banos. Her late husband was taken prisoner on Corregidor and interned as a military P.O.W. After liberation and repatriation to the States, the family resided in New Orleans, Louisiana; Dallas, Texas; and Hot Springs, Arkansas. In 1965, she joined the National Conference for Community and Justice (formerly the National Conference of Christians and Jews) in Little Rock, Arkansas, and served as Director in Tulsa, Oklahoma; San Antonio, Texas; and Portland, Oregon (1975-1980).
She was an avid reader and held a keen interest in politics and world affairs. She served on the Salem YWCA Board of Directors and as gallery guide at Bush Barn Art Gallery.
In 1980, she married the late Philip M. Brandt, Jr., of Salem, president of the Willamette Production Credit Association. He played the trombone in the Capital City Jazz Band, the Oregon Jazz Band, and the Salem Pops Orchestra.
Survivors include daughters, Lottie Edwards Elam of Pasedena, (sic) Calif., and Connie Edwards Sweeny of Suttons Bay, Mich.; son, Wesley F. Edwards and his wife Tricia, of Troy, Ohio; stepson, Philip M. Brandt and his wife Susie, of Katmandu, Nepal; stepson, William D. Brandt and his wife Lois Cole, of Salem; stepdaughter, Lark Brandt-Nelson and her husband, Mark Nelson, of Hillsboro; nine grandchildren and step-grandchildren-including Paige and Madison Brandt of Salem; George and Forrest Brandt of Portland – and six great grandchildren.
Private services and burial were held at Zena Spring Valley Cemetery on Brush College Road. Memorial may be sent to the Salem YWCA, the women’s Crisis Center, Marion-Polk Food Share, and Physicians for Social Responsibility.
Statesman Journal, Salem, Oregon, Tues., Nov. 25, 2008
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