Edgren

Gretchen Edgren, 84, a longtime Playboy magazine editor, died September 16 at home in Holmes Beach, Florida. Before her semi-retirement in 1992, Ms. Edgren was a senior editor of Playboy, and subsequently served as contributing editor until 2013. She was the author of five coffee table books about Playboy, its Playmates and the Playboy Mansion.

Ms. Edgren was born to Jack W. and Alice Wells Grondahl March 17, 1931, in Portland, Oregon, and was a member of the Pendleton High School class of 1948.

After graduating with a degree in journalism from the University of Oregon, she worked on newspapers The Oregonian in Portland and the San Juan Star in Puerto Rico. She moved to Florida in 1992 from Oak Park, IL; in both communities she was active in cultural, musical and religious organizations. She and her late husband Alvin (“Bud”) Edgren served as coordinators for Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch for a dozen years.

Survivors include a daughter, Amy McNeese-Mecham of Edinburgh, Scotland; a son, Terence J. McNeese of Chicago; sister Molly Beiningen of Milwaukie, Ore.; and stepchildren Amanda McNeese of Jonestown, Texas, Karl Edgren of Canton, Conn., and Cathy Raymond of Wood Dale, Ill.

Services are scheduled for 11:00 a.m. September 26 at the Episcopal Church of the Annunciation in Holmes Beach.

Memorial contributions may be made to the church, 4408 Gulf Drive, Holmes Beach, FL 34217; the Anna Maria Island Concert Chorus and Orchestra, P.O. Box 1213, Holmes Beach, FL 34218; Musica Sacra Cantorum, P.O. Box 50581, Sarasota, FL 34232; the Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch, 2214 Avenue B, Bradenton Beach, FL 34217; or WSMR, 4202 E. Fowler Ave., Tampa, FL 33620-6870.