\t\t\tLilyann Brannon \t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\tOBITUARY\t\t<\/p>\n
Lilyann Wingrove Sosbee Brannon left this life peacefully on May 14, 2021 at age 99 in her home of 59 years in San Jose. She lived her life bravely, energetically, and with purpose, always keeping her faith, and advocating for her family and for those less privileged.<\/p>\n
Lilyann was born and raised in her beloved Maryland, the granddaughter of a Maryland Senator, and daughter of an esteemed community leader and a devoted mother. She married Joseph Sosbee when he graduated from Virginia Military Institute (VMI), and they had a son, Stuart Davis. Joe was a 1st Lieutenant U.S. Navy Pilot who worked with the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey. Joe died in a plane crash during a williwaw when returning to base on Adak in the Aleutian Islands in 1943. Lilyann then began raising Stuart in California as a war widow, amid challenges including blackouts and rationing. She lived near North Hollywood with her young son.<\/p>\n
After returning to Baltimore, Lilyann was introduced to Ward Brannon of West Virginia through her sister\u2019s husband, Paul Henderson, and Ward and Lilyann were married in 1946. Recruited while he was still completing his degree at the University of Cincinnati, Ward worked for the Glenn L. Martin Corporation as an Aeronautical Engineer, and they remained in the Baltimore area, where their daughter, Barbara Fitzgerald, was born. The new family then moved to Los Angeles with Northrop Aviation, where Ward developed the \u201cFlying Wing\u201d, the precursor to the Stealth Bomber, in 1949 (Lilyann always liked saying that they were \u201ctrue 49ers\u201d). In Los Angeles, they had a second daughter, Nancy Lee. Nancy died during a heart procedure in 1953 at age 2-1\/2 in Santa Monica. Later, they had a second son, Paul Wilson. While Ward worked as Test Manager for the Polaris Missile System at Terminal Island Naval Base, Lilyann began what would become a lifetime of volunteer service. Lilyann and Ward helped establish Westwood Hills Christian Church in Westwood. In 1958, the family moved from West Los Angeles to Palos Verdes Estates.<\/p>\n
In 1962, Lockheed Missiles and Space transferred Ward to Sunnyvale, CA, and they bought their home in San Jose. Lilyann soon became deeply involved in community service in Santa Clara County. She concentrated on environmental, homelessness, and historic preservation issues, and received numerous awards and commendations throughout her years of involvement. She founded United New Conservationists, and personally established and coordinated a number of community gardens in San Jose. For years, she was a \u201cone-woman social services agency\u201d for people in need. Her granddaughter remembered her door was always open to those seeking assistance.<\/p>\n
Former Chair of the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, the late Rod Diridon, Sr. referred to Lilyann as a \u201cquiet typhoon\u201d in important political efforts in the 1970s. Diridon noted that Lilyann avoided self-promotion in helping elect a generation of local environmentalists, stating that she \u201cpaid it forward\u201d for our children. He also stated that she was a visionary \u2013 ahead of her time in ecology, climate, recycling, historic preservation, and homelessness issues. She led an effort to feed the homeless in St. James Park, and lobbied to save the Hayes Mansion and other historic properties in San Jose and Santa Clara County, many of which were lost to development. She personally saved the Roosevelt Redwood Tree planted in Campbell by then President Theodore Roosevelt (it is now growing in Vasona Park), and led regular volunteer cleanups of the Guadalupe River. She formed her own non-profit charity, \u201cTending the Flock\u201d, through which she helped countless individuals over the years.<\/p>\n
Lilyann also spent several amazing years at Apple Computer after Ward retired, where she made even more lifelong friends. She and Ward were also dedicated parishioners at St. Mark\u2019s Episcopal Church in Santa Clara.<\/p>\n
Lilyann\u2019s granddaughter, Deanna Tryon, stated that Lilyann instilled in her a sense of responsibility to one\u2019s community, and a desire to stay civically engaged. Her son Stuart was Vice President of Trade Development at Crown Zellerbach, her daughter Barbara was a local Mayor and City Councilmember who served on many State and County Boards and Commissions, her son Paul is a local restaurateur who devoted many years to caring for both Lilyann and Ward. Her grandson Don is an engineer and her granddaughter, Deanna, became the Silicon Valley Chief of Protocol.<\/p>\n
Deanna remembered that Lilyann was proud of her American heritage, and always studied history. Her father was a 33rd Degree Mason who helped save the Flag House in Baltimore, Maryland, and her brother was a founder of one of our Nation\u2019s most important governmental agencies. She was always active and always curious. Lilyann was an avid reader, taking great pleasure in re-reading her Encyclopedia Britannica from A-Z in her late 90s. She loved San Jose, but sometimes pined for \u201cMy Maryland\u201d. She always honored President George Washington, the \u201cFather of our Country\u201d, and \u201cGreat Aunt Betsy\u201d Ross. She was a skilled horsewoman, breaking horses to harness and saddle when she was just a child, and her granddaughter always remembered her taking her riding when Lilyann was in her 60s and 70s, charging up any hill she could find.<\/p>\n
Lilyann is survived by her three children, Stuart (Susie), Barbara (Lou), and Paul (Jenny), her grandson Don Brannon, and her granddaughter Deanna Tryon-Reynisson (Pete).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lilyann Brannon OBITUARY Lilyann Wingrove Sosbee Brannon left this life peacefully on May 14, 2021 at age 99…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":461466,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[88,90,89],"class_list":["post-461465","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-jose","tag-san-jose","tag-san-jose-headlines","tag-san-jose-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461465","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=461465"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461465\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/461466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=461465"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=461465"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=461465"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}