Adele M. (Branson) Harlan

Adele M. (Branson) Harlan, 90 of Reno, Nevada, died Tuesday morning, Feb. 27, at Saint Mary’s Regional Medical Center, Reno, Nevada.

She was born June 24, 1927, in Belknap, Sanders County, Montana, to Leslie and Laura (Berry) Branson. She moved to Lind in 1936 where she graduated from Lind High School, then attended Washington State University in Pullman where she continued her interest in speech and drama.

Adele moved to Oakland, California in 1946 where she worked at Capwell’s as a model and Assistant Buyer and as a manager at Kahn’s Department Store.

In the 1960s, she began a career in real estate in Orinda, California, where she had her own brokerage and was the first woman to be awarded Contra Costa County, Realtor of the Year in 1972. She moved to Indian Wells, California, in the 1980s where she continued her real estate business.

She had a lifelong interest in nutrition and gave lectures and spoke about nutrition on the radio in the Palm Springs area.

She enjoyed playing tennis, attending golf tournaments, watching football and vacationing in Bodega Bay, California, and Glenbrook, Nevada.

Survivors include two sons, Stephen and Douglas Harlan, two grandsons, Aaron Blakey and Theran Harlan, and four brothers, Jennell and Louise Branson, Jerry and Lynda Branson, Orville and Betty Branson, Ira and Lawrie Branson, and many nieces and nephews for whom she was very fond.

She was preceded in death by her parents and a brother, Kendall Branson.

An informal remembrance with friends and family will be held at The Lions Club building on Van Marter Avenue and East First Street on May 12 at 1 p.m. Food will be provided.

If planning to attend, contact Jerry and Lynda Branson at 509-677-3315. Private interment will be in the Whitepine Cemetery in Montana.