Edna Strickland was the elder sister of the Hill Valley High School vice-principal Gerald Strickland and an etiquette columnist for the Hill Valley Herald back in the 1930s. Edna was the middle child of three, with an older brother named Robert. She shared the Strickland family trait of uncompromising morality and discipline. Unlike her younger brother Gerald, Edna was actually capable of smiling and even being civil at times, yet for the most part the Strickland doctrine of strict, uncompromising discipline was still as much a part of her character as it was for her younger brother.