BRINK, Kathryn

BRINK, HOLCOMB, GILLIAND, STRUVE, FOX, BRADY, HAAGENSON, FRENCH

Posted By: Lynette Edsall (email)
Date: 12/29/2006 at 17:32:52

Cherokee Chronicle Times, Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Kathryn Brink, 82, of Cherokee, died at home on Wednesday, December 20th, due to heart failure.

Harry Brink of Cherokee, and his children invite friends and family to join them for lunch to celebrate the life of their wife and mother. Lunch will be served at noon, Saturday, December 23, 2006, at Donna's on Main Street in Calumet.

The Boothby Funeral Home in Cherokee is in charge of the arrangements.

Kathryn Mae (Kitty) Holcomb was born Feb. 8, 1924, the third child of Robert and Goldie Holcomb of Washta. She grew up in Correctionville. After graduating from high school in 1942, she was a telephone operator for Northwestern Bell in Correctionville and Sioux City, for three years.

On May 12, 1945, she married her childhood sweetheart, Harry Brink, in Oklahoma City while he was on leave from naval service in the Pacific. They lived in Sioux City until 1948, then in Sutherland, for almost 50 years. Since 1996, they have made their home in Cherokee.

The center of her life was her family. She and Harry had five children: Barbara (Gilliand) of Burnsville, Minn.; Christine (Struve) of Calumet; Marcia of Ames; Steven (who died in 1980); John of Des Moines.

In addition to her husband and children, she leaves behind, two sons-in-law and a daughter-in-law: Jerry Gilliand, Craig Struve, and Joan Brink; eight grandchildren and their partners: Tammy (Struve) and Matthew Fox, of Cedar Rapids; Kirk and Heather Struve of Granville; Mark and Ann Struve of Des Moines; Matthew and Jada Struve of Kannapolis, N.C.; Nick Brink of Des Moines; Ben and Jenny Brady of Ames; Wendy (Gilliand) and Rick Haagenson of Eagan, Minn.; Denver and Nicole Gilliand of Minneapolis, Minn; eighteen Great-grandchildren; her sister, Lois French, of Hugo, Okla.; and her sister-in-law, Vivian Holcomb, of Sioux City.

She enjoyed homemaking, entertaining friends, reading, solving crossword puzzles, crocheting, traveling and camping, dancing, keeping a diary, and, perhaps most of all, laughing at Harry's antics. She was a member of First Unitarian Church of Sioux City and the Sutherland Legion Auxiliary.

The family is profoundly grateful for everyone's caring during her illness. We especially thank the gifted and giving staff of Cherokee Regional Medical Center Hospice.