Emil David Edgren

1919 - 2020

Emil David Edgren
October 8, 1919 - August 9, 2020
Capitola, CA
Born to David Ernst and Dora Edgren in San Francisco on October 8, 1919, Emil Edgren passed away on August 9, 2020 in Santa Cruz, California. He was 100.
Emil's fascination with photography early in life inspired him to enlist in the US Army Signal Corp at the age of 21. His plan was to serve for one year, hone his picture-taking skills in army photography school, and then return home and marry his fiancée and high school sweetheart, Lucille. Shortly after he enlisted, World War II broke out. Therefore, his planned one-year voluntary stint stretched out to be a mandatory tour of duty lasting to the end of the war four and a half years later. The unplanned extra time of service in the military, however, turned out to be a blessing as it afforded Emil with many unique opportunities to photograph history in the making. He was first stationed in Iceland for 18 months and later was deployed to Europe where he served in several countries for the remainder of the war. Emil photographed many luminaries of the time, including General Dwight D. Eisenhower, The Queen Mother Elizabeth, and President Charles de Gaulle. The country of Belgium issued two postage stamps commemorating the Battle of the Bulge, each stamp bearing a stylized image of a soldier based on a photograph Emil had taken of a U.S. soldier in combat on the front line of that famous battle. Emil snapped that memorable picture while crouched low in a trench between bursts of machine gun bullets flying over his head. He also captured post-war events such as the jubilant crowds celebrating in Paris on the afternoon of May 8th, 1945 when the end of the war was finally announced. Emil also took many non-combat photographs depicting every-day life of people living in rural, hard-scrabble Iceland and in war-torn Europe. Emil's granddaughter, Renee, hosts a website at www.emiledgren.com where many of his spectacular and striking black and white photographs depicting raw life as it was in these countries during the early 1940s are posted for anyone to view and appreciate. The website also identifies awards and honors Emil received during his lifetime.
When the war ended, Emil returned home to San Francisco and promptly married his patiently-waiting fiancée. Not long afterwards, he landed a job as a newspaper photographer at what was then the San Francisco News-Call Bulletin. After a few years, the couple started a family and subsequently moved from the City to the suburbs of Palo Alto to raise their two young children. Emil commuted daily by train to the City and Lucille and the children often met him at the California Avenue train station in the evening after his day of work at the newspaper.
In 1962, Emil accepted a job as a photographer at the San Jose Mercury News. There, over a twenty-year period, he captured many news-worthy happenings until retiring in 1982 as Assistant Chief Photographer.
Emil and Lucille spent their golden years living in the seaside town of Capitola. He was an active volunteer in the community, and, in 1993, was selected by town officials as "Capitola Man of the Year". Also, while living in Capitola, the ever-active Emil self-published a book entitled "3:01 PACIFIC WAR TIME, A Photographic Memoir: Victory in Europe". The book comprises many of his wartime photographs with background stories behind each one.
Emil was also an accomplished oil-on-canvas painter. The subjects of his paintings were often those he had captured in his photographs. Many of his vibrant canvases adorn the walls of family and friends.
Emil is survived by Lucille, his wife of 74 years, sons David and Robert Edgren, daughter-in-law, Dawn Edgren, and granddaughters, Kristen McDevitt and Renee Edgren. In lieu of a memorial gathering, friends and family are encouraged to say a prayer thanking God for the wonderful life Emil lived.


View the online memorial for Emil David Edgren