Edith Vern Huse

Edith Huse of Westlake Village, wife of Russell Huse (1908-2004), died on April 1, 2012, only three weeks after her 99th birthday that she celebrated with family and friends in her garden overlooking the Santa Monica mountains. She passed away peacefully in her home attended by family, friends and caring hospice workers.

Edith was an early resident of Westlake Village, arriving with her husband Russell in 1974 after both of them retired from twenty-five years of working as civilians and as technical editors at the Naval Weapons Center of China Lake. They retired in Westlake as a return to Russell’s roots in the the Conejo Valley. Russell spent his childhood summers on the Russell Ranch, his grandfather Andrew Russell’s six thousand acre ranch that today would include Westlake Village.

Edith was born in 1913 in Little Rock, Arkansas, and grew up in Denver, cared for by her beloved grandmother Mary Baker and several aunts—Bessie, Edith and Minerva—as her mother frequently traveled on business. She graduated from high school in Denver, and, at 15, drove her grandmother over the Rocky Mountains in a Model A Ford to join family members in Los Angeles. She graduated with a business degree from Woodbury College and almost immediately found a job at Paramount Studios working as a secretary in the offices of producer B. P. Shulberg.

After four years at Paramount she met and married Russ Huse who was, at the time, working in the cattle business for his uncle, Harvey Russell. They moved to Madera, California where Edith went to work managing records for the county agricultural department. Moving to Glendale, CA, they started their family and soon thereafter they moved to China Lake, CA. She is survived by her son Doug Huse, his wife Lynn, and grandchildren Roy and Mary Huse of Pasadena and by her daughter Donna Huse, her husband Jim Sears and grandchildren Jesse, Robin and Adam Sears. Though both are native Californians, Donna and Jim live in Dartmouth, Massachusetts.

The twenty-five years Edith and Russ worked and raised their family at China Lake were productive and happy. Edith was a loving, merry, and supportive mother who cared well for her children and grandchildren all their lives. At work she progressed with cheerful competence from secretary to Supervisory Technical Editor, eventually serving as President of the Society for Technical Editors of her region. She served extensively in the community as President of the PTA, chairperson for the United Fund Drive, President of the Church Women’s Auxiliary, as a Toastmistress, and a Rotarianne, as classroom mother for both her children for many years, and as a leader of a Brownie Scout troop and Cub Scout Den Mother. Edith and Russ loved hiking in the Sierras and took long vacations with their children camping in the mountains.

In her thirty-five years of retirement in Westlake Village, Edith continued her community participation—Meals on Wheels, Rotary Annes, and with the Westlake Garden club as an officer and as a participant on the Westlake garden tour. She and Russell continued hiking into their early eighties. She loved her garden and gardening, arranging flowers and home interiors, her beautiful clothing and dressing with style. Her generosity was legendary, and one of her pastimes was finding the perfect present for each person. She was an animated speaker, an attentive listener, and was delighted by people from all walks of life and their stories. She had close lifelong friendships and enjoyed sharing her light filled and gracious home with good meals for family and friends. She was gifted with excellent health and a cheery, hope filled mood that lighted up the world around her and all the people in it. A private memorial service for Edith Huse will be held in her garden in April.