Edith Stewart Brawner Gillon

Edith Stewart Brawner Gillon, 93, died Tuesday Jan. 14, 2014. Born April 8, 1920 in Greenville, GA to Edith Stewart and Howard C. Brawner, she was 5th of 7 children. She so enjoyed being fiercely proud of all in her family. After graduating from Greenville HS, she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from UGA in 1940. She had the great privilege and delight of studying piano under the acclaimed professor, Hugh Hodgson. In Atlanta she married highly decorated WWII veteran, George H. Gillon (1917-1990), an Atlanta real estate attorney, and thus she joined the original Atlanta pioneer families of Payne, Greene and Hunnicutt. There was always music in the house, soirees and recitals. Edith set a high standard for her 2 children, encouraging as most important a love of culture, music, literature and fine arts. She also passed this love onto hundreds of piano students. She never missed the NY Met Opera tour in Atlanta, and as a member of the Atlanta Music Club, encouraged sponsorship of many famous artists, including Luciano Pavarotti. By her fifties she commenced an additional career in embroidery designs and instruction, blurring the lines between decorative and fine arts, and winning a drawer full of awards. She visited as many museums and attended as many concerts as humanly possible visiting her daughter, Alison, in Boston, Paris and London. A highlight was a tour of Loire Valley chateaux with fellow musicians. Her other love, aside from her cats, was reading and the family swore she could read at the age of 3. She had read so many, many books that her premature death at 93 due to complications from vascular disease was not wholly unexpected. Her husband, George, always said she was his beautiful hot house flower. Her encyclopedic knowledge, great wit, absurd sense of humor, along with the greatest heart a mother could ever have will be forever missed. She is survived by her son, Stewart Greene Gillon, her daughter, Alison Edith Gillon (Dane Whipkey), her brother, James E. Brawner (Barbara), of Atlanta and many nieces and nephews. Funeral Saturday, Jan. 18, 11:00 AM at H.M. Patterson & Son Spring Hill, with gathering from 10:00 AM. Interment at Westview Cemetery following. Online condolences may be made at hmpattersonspringhill.com.