By Sean P. Ray | Managing Editor
Edward “Ed” Brandt, who served as the executive director of the Northside Leadership Conference from 1993 to 2001 and later served on the Brightwood Civic Association, passed away on Aug. 29 at the age of 85.
Brandt is remembered for his tireless service to the Northside community. Having grown up in the borough of Emsworth just north of Pittsburgh, he moved to the Mexican War Streets in the early 1990s after working in the Washington D.C. area for 20 years, leading the Housing Department of Arlington County.
According to fellow former Leadership Conference director Mark Fatla, Brandt secured the conference’s first state tax credit partnership, a move which was greatly expanded by future directors.
“That was really a dramatic change for the organization in terms of securing stable funding,” Fatla said.
In addition, Fatla said Brandt helped the conference get its real estate development program up and running.
“Up until that time, the conference left real estate development to the individual neighborhoods,” he said.
The Chronicle contacted members of the Marshall-Shadeland Civic Group, formerly the Brightwood Civic Association, for comment on this story, but did not receive replies by deadline.
In addition to serving the community in official capacities as part of neighborhood organizations, Brandt is also remembered for beautifying the Northside by planting bulbs, trees and shrubs in vacant lots throughout the Northside. He was also a frequent visitor to many local Northside shops.
Arlan Hess, owner of City Books in Allegheny West, said Brandt would often come to her shop and talk about the neighborhood with her.
“Ed always had information about what was going on, what events were taking place, and he had friends of all ages and from all walks of life,” Hess said. “And I think that’s why he’s going to be so missed on the Northside.”
Brandt’s sister Rose Brandt said he “believed very much in communities that are connected, that are walkable, that are viable.”
“He liked neighborhoods that were really manageable and were focused on how people lived, not how cars drove,” she said.
Rose also remembered her brother for his passion and advocacy for environmental causes. In particular, he was outspoken on the issue of overfishing of menhaden fish in the Chesapeake Bay and had a strong love for birds.
“When I was with Ed, I was always asking him how he identified the birds and he would point out a red belly or a yellow cap on the wing,” she wrote to The Chronicle. “Here I should point out that this man who loved bright flowers and could identify so many birds was color blind.”
“A color blind man who loved color. That was my brother.”
Brandt is preceded in death by his parents Frank Brandt and Mary Rose (Burns) Brandt; siblings Sr. Florence Brandt, Betty (Bill) Hahn, and Mary (Paul) Reiber, and sister-in-law Mary Ann Brandt. He is survived by siblings Frank Brandt Jr. and Rose (Jerome Ziets) Brandt, as well as many nieces and nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews, friends and colleagues.
A celebration of Brandt’s life was held at Hahn Funeral Home and Cremation Services on Sept. 6.
