This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: BRANDON, POUND, BANZETT, SEVERIN, ZIMMERMAN Classification: Obituary Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/AY.2ADE/1066 Message Board Post: George A. Brandon Longtime Davis resident and composer George A. Brandon, 76, died in his sleep in March 30, 2000, following a brief illness. He was born on Feb. 4, 1924, in Stockton, to Horace D. and Georgia C. (Pound) Brandon. He grew up in Stockton and earned a bachelor's degree in history at the College of the Pacific, now University of the Pacific, in 1945. He went on to earn a master's degree in sacred music in 1952 and a master's degree in religious education in 1957 at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. While at Union, he met Dona Lee Banzett, whom he married in 1954. In the late 1950s the Brandons taught at Eureka College in Eureka, Ill., and then at William Penn College in Oskaloosa, Iowa, where their only child, Barbara Anne, was born. The family relocated to Davis in 1962. In the late 1960s Brandon held positions at several Davis churches, including Lutheran Church of the Incarnation, Davis Community Church and St. Martin's Episcopal Church. His contributions to music at St. Martin's Church continued well beyond his employ there. He was instrumental in designing the church's Schlicker pipe organ, installed in 1982, and his compositions were often performed by the various choirs at St. Martin's, and by his wife, Dona, who was the organist and choir director there for 27 years. In 1994, he was commissioned by St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Sacramento to write the ''St. Paul's Suite,'' an organ work based on the last chorus of Camille Saint-Saens' ''Christmas Oratorio,'' for a concert that celebrated the 80th anniversary of the installation of that church's pipe organ. He was a freelance composer, with more than 300 published compositions which include hymn-tunes and texts, choir responses, anthems, secular choruses and organ and piano pieces. His hobbies included family history and regional history. In addition, he researched and wrote about many aspect of church music and related fields, especially early American hymnody, a passion that continued up until his death. He is survived by his wife of 45 years, Dona Lee Brandon of Davis; his daughter, Barbara Anne Brandon Severin of Fairbanks, Alaska; and his sister and her husband, Sue and Otto Zimmermann of Modesto and their family. Plans are pending for a memorial service at a later date. Memorial donations may be sent to the Yolo County office of the Red Cross, Davis Community Meals, STEAC or CommuniCare Health Centers. (Obituary from the "The Davis Enterprise," the week of April 2, 2000, (Yolo County). Submitted with the permission of the "The Davis Enterprise," 315 G Street, Davis, CA 95616, <http://www.davisenterprise.com/>. Please note: I am not related to the family listed above, and I do not have any further information on this family.) George Brandon A memorial service for George Brandon, longtime Davis resident and composer, has been scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at St. Martin's Episcopal Church, 640 Hawthorn Lane, Davis. Brandon, 76, died at home on March 30, 2000, after a short illness. He was active in the 1960s as a church musician in several Davis churches and continued to influence church music in the area through his compositions and in other ways. He is survived by his wife of 45 years, Dona Brandon of Davis; daughter, Barbara Anne Brandon Severin of Fairbanks, Alaska; and his sister and her husband, Sue and Otto Zimmermann of Modesto and their family. Contributions in his memory may be sent to the Yolo County Office of the Red Cross, 120 Court St., Woodland, CA 95695; Davis Community Meals, P.O. Box 72463, Davis, CA 95617; CommuniCare Health Centers, P.O. Box 1260, Davis, CA 95617; or STEAC, P.O. Box 1047, Davis, CA 95617. (Obituary from the "The Davis Enterprise," the week of May 7, 2000, (Yolo County). Submitted with the permission of the "The Davis Enterprise," 315 G Street, Davis, CA 95616, <http://www.davisenterprise.com/>. Please note: I am not related to the family listed above, and I do not have any further information on this family.)