By FRANKLIN SMITH Special to the Daily Press
Edna Laurena Brunson, a 50-year Santa Monica resident, passed away on May 17. Services were held Friday at the A.M.E. Church By the Sea located 19th and Michigan Avenue, with the burial at Woodlawn Cemetery.
Born Edna L. Wilkin in 1908, in Natchez, MS., she later came to Los Angeles with her family in 1929 where she joined the First African American Episcopal Church.
In 1937 she married Donald A. Brunson and they moved to Santa Monica. Brunson was active in a long list of community organizations, including 20 years as a board member and past president of the Santa Monica College Patron’s Association. She also was a member of the Santa Monica Historical Society, Santa Monica Church Women United, several PTA’s, the Letter Carriers Wives Auxiliary and the Orpha Chapter #14 O.E.S.
More than 100 people attended the ceremony, with Rev. Ron Williams reading words of comfort.
Brunson is survived by her two children and their families — Donald Jr., Diane, Demetrius, and DeAna Brunson, and Leana, Gene, and Maryellen McClain.
A Memorial Scholarship at Santa Monica College has been set up in Donald Brunson’s name and will be changed to the Donald and Edna Brunson Memorial Scholarship. Contributions can be made by contacting Suzanne Hanks at Santa Monica College (310) 434-4108.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 25, 2002. Read the original PDF.