Norrisa Brandt; Ex-Mayor’s Daughter

Norrisa Poulson Brandt, one-time candidate for California secretary of state and a woman who at age 58 sold her home and cut her ties with the philanthropic and civic groups that had filled her life to teach in an inner-city elementary school classroom, has been killed in a car accident.

The daughter of former Los Angeles Mayor Norris Poulson, for whom she was named, and the first city clerk of Irvine when that city was incorporated in 1971 was 67 when she died Friday in an automobile accident near her San Jacinto home. She had moved there after retiring in 1986.

In 1979, Mrs. Brandt, who was divorced, left Orange County to resume a teaching career she had started after the youngest of her three children began kindergarten.

Earlier, she had become interested in politics when her father was in Congress, an interest she retained during his years as mayor (1953-61). He named her to the Municipal Arts Commission during his tenure.

Sought Nomination

In 1978, she made an unsuccessful run for the Republican nomination for California secretary of state and after that abandoned the political arena for the classroom. She moved from Orange County to Los Angeles and chose schools filled with disadvantaged children, she said in a 1979 interview, “because this is where I could help the most. . . . “

Her two sons, a daughter and a grandson survive.