Helen Edison, Old Globe’s Rebuilder, Dies

Helen Davidson Edison, whose $1-million donation played an integral role in rebuilding the Old Globe Theatre after it burned in 1978, died Wednesday at her La Jolla home at the age of 86.

Mrs. Edison moved to San Diego in 1974 along with her husband, Simon, after he retired as chairman of Edison Brothers, a St. Louis-based retailing firm. Simon Edison died in early 1979, and she made the gift to the Old Globe later that year in his honor.

Although Mrs. Edison had remained active in the Old Globe--she was a board member who recently donated $250,000 for a planned gift shop, and she underwrote several recent productions--she remained best known for the large gift that made the new theater possible. In the wake of that gift, the theater complex in Balboa Park became known the Simon Edison Centre for the Performing Arts.

“The Old Globe, its entire staff and, indeed, its membership are deeply saddened by the loss of our beloved Helen Edison,” said Jack O’Brien, artistic director of the Old Globe. “It was Mrs. Edison . . . who became the spark to light this conflagration of theater which is now such an integral part of our entire community.”

“As long as the Simon Edison Centre is here in Balboa Park, Helen is with us in memory, in spirit, and we will always think of her as the heart of our family,” O’Brien said.

Delza Martin, who met Mrs. Edison while president of the Old Globe, described the benefactor as “modest, shy and quiet. . . . She was absolutely unassuming. But it was her gift that enabled us to proceed” with reconstruction after the disastrous 1978 fire.

Martin recalled being “stunned” by Mrs. Edison’s gift, largely because it came out of the blue. “I about fell out of my chair,” Martin said. “I didn’t even know her. She and I hit it off immediately. She would have been a doll, even if she didn’t have a dime.”

In 1980, “we put (Mrs. Edison) on the board of directors, and I don’t think she ever missed a meeting,” Martin said. “She found things that needed doing, and she was always available. She wasn’t like some benefactors who say, ‘Here’s the check; goodby.’ ”

Although Mrs. Edison preferred to remain in the background, theatergoers are likely to be reminded of her involvement at the theater, Martin said, because plans call for the proposed gift shop to bear her name.

In addition to the Old Globe, Mrs. Edison contributed to the Gaslamp Quarter Theatre, the San Diego Repertory Theatre, the UC San Diego School of Medicine, United States International University and several other theater groups.

The Old Globe will hold a memorial service for Mrs. Edison at 10:30 a.m. Feb. 25 at the theater. Memorial contributions can be made to the Old Globe or to the UCSD School of Medicine.

She is survived by two sons, William and Stephen, and 10 grandchildren.