Edmund William Pratt was born 15 Oct 1905 in Detroit, one of four children of Adeline Clara Louise Booth and William Austin Pratt. The Pratts were a well-established Detroit family long before the Booth family arrived in the 1880’s. It is alleged that the Pratt family grazed livestock in Grand Circus Park in the early years of the nineteenth century. They rented lodgings in the Woodbridge area to the Booth family when the Booths first arrived in Detroit.

Cranbrook quickly became a part of young Edmund’s life for it was here that his Booth grandparents, Henry and Clara, lived as well as his Uncle George and Aunt Nellie Booth. Family excursions from Detroit to Bloomfield Hills were frequent, and Edmund spent a considerable amount of his childhood and adolescence on the Cranbrook grounds. Eventually Edmund graduated from Northern High School and later attended Wayne State University and embarked on a career as an illuminating engineer for Detroit Edison. Long after his retirement he continued to maintain an interest in electrical engineering.

Edmund met Martha Haywood Johnson at the wedding of his best friend and was immediately smitten by her beauty and gentle southern ways. Martha was born in Americus, Georgia. Edmund’s initial proposal to Martha was rejected, however a year later, after a surprise (to Martha) motor trip to Buffalo, NY they were married on 31 Aug 1931. Their marriage remained strong for close to 61 years until Martha died in 1992. They had two sons, Henry Johnson Pratt (1934) and William Austin Pratt (1940).

Edmund and Martha Pratt spent most of their married life in the Birmingham, Michigan area. Edmund spent his entire working career at the Detroit Edison office on Washington Blvd in Downtown Detroit where he held positions in sales and marketing of Edison’s commercial lighting business. Edmund retired in 1970 after spending his later years training new employees, a task at which he excelled and dearly loved.

Following his retirement, Edmund was active in promoting the commuter trains (Downtown Detroit) operated by the Grand Trunk Railway. He organized the Grand Trunk Commuters Association. He was also very active in the Cranbrook House Gardens Auxiliary and gave guided tours of the Cranbrook Gardens, and was a very active member of Christ Church Cranbrook where he served as chairman of the church’s building and grounds committee. He also served on the boards of Civic Searchlight and the Cranbrook Music Guild. For many years Edmund was interested in buying and selling old cars, as well as helping others locate parts or a particular make or model of a particular car. Eventually Edmund couldn’t keep his feet on the ground and became a member of the Guild Muldoons Balloon Platoon of hot air balloons.