Brita was born Brita Marian Berryman on July 26, 1927 to Edwin James and Carrie (Nettell) Berryman, natives of the Grass Valley area. She was the youngest of seven children, all born in Grass Valley and proud of their Cornish ancestors. She passed away November 2, 2024.
Brita attended local schools and graduated from Grass Valley High School with the class of 1944. After completing high school, she attended Mount St. Mary’s Commercial School and was a member of the class of 1945. Three days after graduation, she was placed as secretary in the law office of District Attorney Howard Sheldon on a temporary basis. She then became secretary to Frank G. Finnegan a Nevada City Attorney. Later she worked in the office of C. B. Grenfell’s insurance agency in Grass Valley.
In 1948 she accepted employment with the California State Department of Employment as a stenographer. She retired from this employment in December of 1980 having promoted to the position of Employment Interviewer.
Brita married Roman Rozynski of Nevada City on May 3, 1953. Roman passed away November 6, 1996. She remained a Nevada City resident for many years.
Brita joined Grass Valley’s Manzanita Parlor of the Native Daughters of California in 1944 and was President of the Parlor four times. She maintained her membership for eighty years.
Following her marriage she became affiliated with the Neva Rebekah Lodge No. 119 in Nevada City and was Secretary of the group many times and Noble Grand in 1971.
Along with Roman and after his passing she was an active member of the Nevada County Historical Society holding many offices and receiving many awards. She served as a volunteer-tour guide at Firehouse #1 Museum, served at Foley Library when the Society operated it for the County, and she spent over 30+ years as a docent at the Searls Historical Library. She was instrumental in the Society’s ability to move the Searls Library from the original site to the much larger former National Guard Armory building on Nevada City Highway.
She and Roman received the Elza Kilroy award from the Nevada City Chamber of Commerce and in 2015, the California Conference of Historical Societies awarded her for her work in preserving the history of Nevada County.
A memorial service for Brita will be held at Hooper & Weaver’s Chapel on Thursday, November 21 at 1 P.M.
