American politician
Byron Bernard Brainard (April 1, 1894 – March 19, 1940) was an electrician, auto mechanic, auto salesman, real estate broker and community newspaper editor who was a Los Angeles City Council member between 1933 and 1939.
Biography.
Brainard was born April 1, 1894, in Topeka, Kansas, was brought to Los Angeles in 1899 at the age of five. He left high school to work as a car washer for the Southern Pacific and the Pullman Company but acquired his first piece of real estate through his parents while still a minor. He continued his education through night school and extension courses. He worked up to chief mechanic for an automobile company, then turned to real estate and, before his election to the council in 1933, he edited and published the "Southwest News-Press," a community newspaper. He maintained a semiweekly column called "Column Right" while a council member and after.
Brainard was stricken while eating dinner with his wife, Blanche, at home. He could not be revived at Georgia Street Receiving Hospital. Funeral services were conducted at Inglewood Park Cemetery by the Golden Gate Masonic Lodge and the Order of Druids, of which Brainard had been Noble Grand Arch. Besides his wife, he left a son and a daughter.
A month after his death on March 19, 1940, an autopsy report revealed that Brainard had died of choking when a piece of meat lodged in his throat.
City Council.
Elections.
Brainard ran for the 5th District seat in 1929 and 1931, each time failing to be nominated in the first round. In 1933, however, he ousted incumbent Roy Donley, and he was reelected in 1935 over the End Poverty in California candidate, Charles W. Dempster. He was reelected in 1937 and 1939, but lost to Arthur E. Briggs in 1941.
References.
Access to the "Los Angeles Times" links requires the use of a library card.
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