Etta Brand

Etta Jean Brand was born September 23, 1934 in Dallas. She grew up in S. Dallas with her parents and brothers Joe and Melvin. She was the youngest and the smartest! She graduated from Forest Ave. High School at the age of 16. She was able to share many stories of her life and our family over the years. They were always filled with humor, history and truth.

She never married and had no regrets. She used to say, “Single life is what you make of it” and she made it a party! Not having children of her own, her nieces and grandnieces were her life. She afforded us so many rich and fun experiences. She was our most special aunt. When she would come over for dinner, we were always so excited to see her. We would sit around the table and she would talk to us and there was always a lot of laughter. We always had 2 requests: Debbie wanted Aunt Etta to roll her hair and Leslie wanted help washing the dishes. She would happily agree to both with one catch: We had to agree to let her cut our bangs! She always carried a pair of scissors for this purpose. After some discussion, we usually decided it was worth the haircut! For our birthdays, she would come home with 3 dresses from Neiman’s and we were allowed to pick one. Sometimes we even got to have two.

As a woman in the workforce in the 60’s, she was a trailblazer and a trendsetter. Her leadership style was the envy of all who came in contact with her. She felt her purpose was to develop those who came after her. Etta was involved in the Jewish community and served on various boards. Her people skills stood head and shoulders above all. Her cool manner diffused many situations.

Just before retirement, she moved to Valley Ranch and a whole new chapter in her life began. Living in a quiet cul-de-sac, she met her neighbors and this vibrant group of people all became friends. Many hours were spent in the cul-de-sac, sipping Beefeater martinis, enjoying the conversations where she would declare, “It’s 5:00 somewhere”! She was intensely loyal to her friends and nurtured these relationships.

She was part of another group of friends that met through B’Nai B’rith Women. As the activities with the organization waned, they wanted to continue their friendship and agreed to meet yearly. Seven of the eight original members (Barbara Buck, Inez Cohen, Babe Green, Gloria Ribnick, Dianna Dushkin, Edis Parkans, Mallory Robinson) were from Houston and Aunt Etta traveled to this gathering every year for 37 years! All of these women were strong, and as Mallory says, “Not a shrinking violet among them!”

She hosted parties to watch fireworks from her back deck and her annual Texas/OU gathering where the Longhorns were loudly cheered! And she never missed a Cowboy game. They were a great source of pride and in some years, a great source of angst!

Probably the greatest joys in her life were her great-nieces Elizabeth and Emily. She was so proud of them, enjoyed being around them, curious about all that they were doing, looked forward to their visits. They loved her with equal intensity; each having a different but very special bond with her. Having outlived their grandparents, Aunt Etta was the closest thing to a grandparent. Aunt Etta relished her role and these relationships.

She was well read, informed, could talk about absolutely anything and would give advice with appropriate subtlety. Aunt Etta was mathematically talented, she loved the Wheel of Fortune and board games where she was very competitive. She almost never missed working the crossword puzzles in the morning paper.

She loved to shop and had impeccable taste. She would spend hours and hours at nurseries and her deck was an explosion of flowers! One of her neighbors refused to care for his lawn and planted a weeping willow that hung over her driveway. When she was rebuffed after asking him to move the tree, it died under suspicious circumstances.

Aunt Etta always took care of herself, going to the gym and working with a trainer up until the last 6 months of her life. She wore immaculately matched clothing from her earrings to her shoes. She often said, “I can be old, but I never want to look my age. “ Upon hearing of Aunt Etta’s illness, another neighbor was very surprised as she never complained and always seemed “so evergreen”. This was the perfect summation.

Our lives without Aunt Etta will never be the same and we will miss her as intensely as she loved us.

Donations can be made to:

Jewish Family Service https://jfsdallas.org/

Jewish Federation of Greater Dallas https://jewishdallas.org/

Tiny Paws and Chi Rescue. PO Box 131582, Spring, TX 77393. www.tinypawsrescue.com