In her 46 years in the Palisades, Vivian Braun involved herself in issues of the town, schools, and the leisure activities offered by the light and warmth of Southern California. For her effort and determination in conceiving and operating the Pacific Palisades-Brentwood Hotline for high school kids in trouble, she was honored as Citizen of the Year in 1970. Braun passed away on June 9 at the age of 87. Born on July 16, 1918, Braun grew up on the north shore of Chicago and graduated from the University of Chicago with a business degree. She met her future husband, Ernest, at the university, where he was studying for his law degree. The couple moved to Pacific Palisades in 1958, concluding that it was “the best neighborhood to make their home.” In her early years as a young mother of two daughters, Carol and Joy, Braun was active in their schools’ PTA groups, but as one of her fellow members found out “she wasn’t in it just for something to do.” When her children were ready for high school, she was too, and became a member of the Palisades High PTA from the time the school opened. During those years, the mid-1960s, she became PTA president. It was her association with the high school and inspiration from principal Dr. Herbert Aigner that gave her the idea to make the Hotline the first project of the Pacific Palisades Coordinating Council (precursor to the Community Council), when she took over as president for 1968-69. She gathered support for the project, not only in terms of services provided without charge’such as free answering service’but in terms of top-caliber personnel. When the Hotline went into action in May 1969, it had professional people with experience in medical, legal, social and moral counseling’two dozen of them. Although Braun was immersed in efforts to help teenagers, she had a difficult time turning down other assignments. She came to the aid of the United Crusade, agreeing to organize the local fundraising campaign. Success begot success, and she also worked diligently for the Heart Fund and the Cancer Society drives as well. With constant demands on her time, Braun realized that her personal time was limited, so she signed up for a ceramics class at Rustic Canyon Recreation Park. As the years went on, she enjoyed ceramics, photography, Japanese flower arrangement and gardening. An inveterate traveler, Braun took one of her first trips, to Mexico, with her parents and brother in 1938. She and Ernest traveled all over the world, often with World Peace through Law and the International Bar Association. She and Ernest celebrated 61 years of marriage before he passed away in 2003. They cared deeply about the Palisades, enjoying Theatre Palisades productions, the local Baskin-Robbins, and never missing a Fourth of July parade. A year after Ernest’s death, Vivian moved to Santa Barbara to be close to her younger daughter Carol Pasternack. She made new friends at the Maravilla Seniors community and Congregation B’nai B’rith. She remained a member of the League of Women Voters for a total of 59 years, continued to contribute to many charitable organizations and took up a new interest in promoting solar energy. She is survived by her daughters, Joy Braun of Massachusetts and Carol Braun Pasternack; son-in-law Kenneth Pasternack; and granddaughter Sofia Pasternack, as well as her longtime companion caregiver Liliana Gomez, and many dear friends.
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