OBITUARY:Noted sound editor, 45, dies

Michael Edmonds, a sound editor for various Burbank studios, including Nickelodeon and the Cartoon Network, died on Feb. 28 of a heart attack.

He was 45.

Edmonds worked on animation projects in Burbank and was known for his specialty, the process of track reading, said Tim Borquez, president of Hacienda Post, a Burbank-based post-production sound company.

Track reading is the art of syncing tracks of dialogue to the mouths of characters speaking in an animated feature, Borquez said.

“Michael was a craftsman at the art of track reading,” Borquez said. “It’s a very involved process, but that’s what he specialized in and that’s what he was known for in the industry.”

Edmonds and Borquez worked on “The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie.”

“As a person, he was a jovial fellow who lit up a room had a great laugh,” Borquez said, adding that he knew Edmonds for about 10 years. “He always had a joke and always brightened up a room. He is going to be sorely missed.”

During his 16 years in sound editing, Edmonds also contracted with Warner Bros., DreamWorks, Universal and DIC Entertainment.

He was also sound editor for Broughton Winicki Editorial, a Burbank-based pre-production sound company owned by Jayne Barbera, daughter of animation icon Joe Barbera.

Edmonds was also part of the congregation at Westminster Presbyterian Church. There he met Pat Walmisley more than 10 years ago and the two became friends.

“My brother and my kids adopted him when he moved out here from Tennessee,” Walmisley said. “We became sort of like his adopted California family.”

Edmonds is survived by his mother, Alma Edmonds; sister and brother-in-law Shannon and Peter Joseph; nephew Philip Michael Joseph; aunt Nancy Edmonds and several other aunts, uncles and cousins.

A memorial service will be held at 7 p.m. on Friday at Sabre/Hacienda Post, 401 S. Flower St., Burbank.

Funeral services have passed.