Edmund Brunner, Jr., an economist who lived in Pacific Palisades from 1961 until 1999, died after a long and interesting life on December 18 in Santa Barbara. He was 91. Born in Richlandtown, Pennsylvania, Brunner graduated from Dartmouth College with a degree in economics in 1935. After working for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, he completed his MA in economics at Columbia University in 1940. Ed was a Brookings Fellow for two years before joining the U.S. Department of Labor. In 1942 he became an Intelligence Specialist for the Air Force, and served in Asia during World War II. Following the war, Ed worked for governmental and nonprofit agencies where he specialized in national defense cost-benefit and other economic analyses. He was employed by the Air Force Intelligence Service and the Institute for Defense Analysis. He then joined The Rand Corporation in 1961, where he was associate head of the economics department and program manager of mid-east studies on behalf of the Ford Foundation. He retired in 1986. Ed was a truly compassionate, principled man, with a wry sense of humor and a love of language. To the end he lived according to his creed: ‘Never surrender.’ He will be keenly missed. The love of his life, Gerti Landauer, whom he married in 1948, predeceased him. He is survived by his three children Naomi Hentschel (Craig), Ruth Green (David), Seth Brunner (Linda Clebenger) and six grandchildren. Memorial services will be held January 16 at 3 p.m. at the Palisades Woman’s Club, 901 Haverford. Send donations in his memory to Doctors Without Borders, P.O. Box 1856, Merrifield, VA 22116-8056.
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