Eleanor (Christensen) Brandt

Eleanor Christensen Brandt passed away in Lexington, KY on November 2, 2015.  A multi-decade resident of San Diego, CA, she had moved to Kentucky a year earlier to be near her brother Ralph in her declining months.

Eleanor was born in 1929 in Berkeley, CA to Ralph J. and Clara Clyde Christensen.  The Christensen’s were living in Berkeley while Ralph J. earned his doctoral degree in physics.  Upon obtaining his degree, and now in the depths of the Great Depression, the family moved to San Mateo, CA, where Ralph J. took a full-time teaching position at the local community college and Eleanor went through elementary and middle schools.  Soon after Eleanor’s brother Ralph C. was born in late 1939, Ralph J. moved the family to the San Diego, CA area, where he joined the U.S. Navy’s underwater sound research facility, and where Eleanor attended high school.  She entered her beloved Stanford University at age 16 in 1945, graduating in 1949 and earning a Ph.D. degree in biological sciences (photobiology) there in 1954.  Her work included very early research on the protective nature of potential sunscreen materials.  Her first professional position was as a post-doctoral fellow at the California Institute of Technology (CalTech).

While a graduate student at Stanford, Eleanor met a fellow biological sciences student, Charles Lawrence (Larry) Brandt.  They were married in 1954.  Larry finished his doctoral thesis in 1955 and took an assistant professor position at U. Texas/Austin; Eleanor joined him after completing her contract at CalTech.  By 1957, they had moved to San Diego, where Larry began as an assistant professor in biology at what is now San Diego State University (SDSU), rising ultimately to become department chairman for many years.  As opportunities arose over the years, Eleanor held a variety of teaching and research positions, at institutions such as SDSU, San Diego University (a Catholic women’s university), and the University of California at San Diego (UCSD).  Additionally, in the 1960s she began developing her many artistic talents, which included not only painting but also sculpting, classical guitar (she studied under the Romanos for years), and group singing.  A life-long learner, she audited more than 40 courses at UCSD over a fifteen year period, including Cloisonne and Goldsmithing, Chinese Brush, Ink, and Watercolor Painting, 19th-century French Painting, and Singing and Psychology.  She and Larry were early supporters of the San Diego Opera Society, and annually purchased season opera tickets, ceasing only when Eleanor became bedridden in 2012.  Larry died in 2000.  They were never blessed with children, but they thoroughly enjoyed visits by Ralph C’s four children, and San Diego Zoo trips became a tradition at such times.

Eleanor is survived by her brother Ralph and his wife Evelyn, of Lexington, KY, her nephews Brian, Martin, and Stephen, niece Susan, great-nieces Alexandra, Eliza, and Carly, and great-nephew Tyler.

Visitation on Thursday, November 5th at Wheeler Mortuary will be 1:00-2:30 pm with a time of shared remembrance at the end. The interment will follow at Evergreen Cemetery at 3:00 pm.

In lieu of flowers, a donation to your local hospice would be appreciated