Edmund Grover Bartlett, Jr.
April 6, 1928 - January 17, 2018
Passed away peacefully surrounded by his loving family, after an unexpected stroke. He was born in San Francisco, CA, to Edmund Grover Bartlett and Elizabeth Regan Bartlett. He was a member of the Berkeley High School Class of Fall 1945, and its football team, for which Ed was recently inducted into the Berkeley High Hall of Fame. Following his graduation, Ed joined the United States Navy and trained to become an intelligence officer. After completing his military service, he matriculated to the University of California, Berkeley, where he was a Phi Gamma Delta (Fiji) and a defensive end for the Golden Bears, coached by Pappy Waldorf. He had the honor of playing on the 1950 and 1951 Cal Rose Bowl teams and being selected as a Rugby Hall of Famer and as a player in the 1952 All Star Hula Bowl. While in Honolulu, Ed met the love of his life, Anna Laura Johnson, who was on her way around the world with other registered nurses, but meeting Ed and a moonlight walk on Waikiki Beach changed all of that. After a crossoceanic romance, Ann and Ed were married on April 11, 1953, at St. Clements Episcopal Church in Berkeley, CA and moved with Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing to St. Paul, MN, then Philadelphia, and then back to St. Paul. Ed declined the opportunity to play professional football or to pursue an MBA at Harvard University in favor of 3M and starting a family with Ann.
In 1964 Ed was thrilled to return to the Bay Area where he became a partner in Golden Bear Ford with his good friend from Berkeley High School, Bob Bell. Later he became the owner of Sun Valley Ford (now Future Ford) of Concord, where he retired in the 1990’s. Ed & Ann traveled worldwide with Ford and on many occasions Ed was recognized as one of the top Ford dealers in the country.
The family lived in Piedmont from 1964 until 2017. Ann and Ed had four children, all of whom graduated from Piedmont High School.
Ed was a long-time member of the St. Francis Yacht Club, Claremont Country Club, the Rotary Club of Berkeley, Berkeley Breakfast Club, the Family Club where he was a Knight and member for more than 40 years of the Boilermakers Camp 104. Ed was a former President of the Board of the Boys and Girls Club of Oakland and former President of Pappy’s Boys, comprised of scores of former Cal football players coached by Pappy Waldorf. In 2001 Ed was presented with the Glenn Seaborg award. The honor, named after the former University of California chancellor and 1951 Nobel Prize-winning chemist, is presented annually to a former Cal football player for his career accomplishments who represents the honored Cal principles and traditions of excellence in academics, athletics, leadership and attitude.
Ed will be remembered for his love of life, his warmth, optimism and generosity, his singing, his unwavering support of the Cal football program and dedication to his family, friends and community.
Ed and Ann had an uncommonly joyous marriage from 1953 until Ann passed away in 2016. They celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary with all their children, daughter-inlaw and sons-in-law, and 10 grandchildren in St. Helena. Ed was pre-deceased by his sister Dorothea Carson of Seattle. He is survived by his four children, Debi Anderson of Oakland, Laurie Bartlett Keating of Weston, MA and her husband Mark, Michael of Piedmont and his wife Julie, and Barbara Schrag of Dallas and her husband Brian, as well as eleven grandchildren and four great grandchildren, all of whom felt his love and enjoyed his company immensely. Many others will miss him dearly.
Ed and Ann were members for more than 50 years of the Piedmont Community Church where a celebration of life service will be held at 10 a.m. on Saturday, April 14, 2018. In lieu of flowers, please make any donation in Ed’s memory to the charity of your choice or to the Boys and Girls Club of Oakland, 3300 High Street, Oakland, CA 94619 or to the Pappy Waldorf Scholarship* c/o Cal Athletics Fund 195 Haas Pavilion, Berkeley, CA 94720. * This scholarship is for Cal Football Student Athletes.