Jerilyn Lee Brandelius

Who is Jerilyn Lee Brandelius?

Jerilyn Lee Brandelius was born June 25, 1948 in La Jolla, California to homemaker Dorothy Anne Reid and Marine Edwin Carl Brandelius II. Jerilyn was the first of five children.

Early on her parents moved to Detroit, Michigan to help with her great-grandmother toward the end of her life. Edwin began working as a mechanic and racing for Blake's Autobody where "Ma Blake" gave him the racing nickname "Brandy Blake." The nickname "Brandy" stuck and he participated in Sprint car racing until flipping his car and puncturing a lung in 1956. Edwin Brandelius and wife Dorothy Reid separated in 1962, and Reid moved back to La Jolla. Edwin Brandelius traveled extensively in Mexico driving a dune buggy where he met his last wife, Arizona folk singer and author Katie Lee.

Jerilyn Lee Brandelius gave birth to a daughter in 1964, followed by a son in 1967. Brandelius was in an intimate relationship for 10 years with Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart.