Obituary: Beatrix Edmunds Brownfield

Beatrix Edmunds Brownfield, beloved grandmother, mother, sister, aunt and great friend to many, died at home in Solana Beach, California on September 6, 2017.

Born in 1931 in Los Angeles to Gerda and Ralph Edmunds. Beatrix was somewhat of a young celebrity in the area having won first place in several majorette contests and marching in the Tournament of Roses Parade on New Year’s Day. After attending Pasadena City College, she worked from 1950-1955 for the start up toy company Wham-O, inventor of the Frisbee, Hula Hoop, Super Ball, Slip ’N Slide and Silly String to name just a few. She often told stories of how fun it was to work with the Wham-O co-founders in the beginning stages of their inventing success.

Beatrix married Robert Brownfield in 1951, eventually moving to New York and Connecticut where they raised three children. They divorced in 1975. She married James Velgot of Trumbull, Connecticut in 1977 whom she divorced in 1991.

Beatrix was very proud of her 26-year career at Fairfield University where she worked as a program coordinator for the Center for Financial Studies which became the Dolan School of Business. She shined as a liaison between the world of academia and the highly regarded corporations she worked with, as well as a nurturer of the many university students who interned there.

Always a California girl at heart, Beatrix moved to San Diego upon her retirement in 2006 making new friends and volunteering for local organizations. In 2014, at the age of 83, she became certified by the San Diego Police Department to join the Retired Senior Volunteer Patrol where, in addition to assisting in crime prevention, she checked on “the elderly” who had become homebound. She was awarded The President’s Volunteer Service Award under President Barack Obama in 2015.

A big fan of John Wayne and never without her own cowboy hat, Beatrix will be missed by all who knew and loved her youthful spirit. She is survived by sons Jack Brownfield of San Francisco and John Brownfield of Seattle, daughter Adèle K. Talty and son-in-law John Talty of New York, four adoring grandchildren: Claire, McKinley, Cooper and Hadley Talty, ex-husband, Robert Brownfield, sister Adele Tambor and brother-in-law Wade Tambor, niece Leann Griesinger, and nephews Eric and Patrick Tambor.

A private family service will take place next spring at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church in Bedford New York. In lieu of Flowers, donations can be made to the Shiley Eye Institute UC San Diego or the ALS Association.