John Barron Bremner

BREMNER, BATES, FRISTEDT, STEVENSON, KLINGE, CLARK, PIGG, SKOGMAN, MCLERAN, MCCOMAS, HENDERSON, ISAAC

Posted By: Tara (email)
Date: 2/20/2012 at 12:14:25

John Barron Bremner, whose lifelong career at Coe and Cornell Colleges touched the lives of
many, died on Sunday, February 12, 2012, at home in Iowa City. He was 75. Though ill with cancer for far
too long, Barron lived every moment fully and with an intense love of life, family and his many, many
friends.
Barron was born April 6, 1936, in Knob Lick, Missouri, to parents Noel and Bertha Marie (Bess)
Bremner. He moved to Iowa with his family in 1943 and graduated from Iowa Falls High School in 1954.
Barron pursued and found success in football and wrestling at the University of Iowa where he earned
his BA and MA degrees. He was a member of the 1957 Big Ten and Rose Bowl Championship football
team and the Big Ten Championship wrestling team. Barron was president of the Delta Upsilon social
fraternity, the Phi Delta Kappa educational fraternity and the Iowa Lettermen’s Club.
Barron was a college educator at Coe College and Cornell College for 42 years. He firmly
believed in the value of athletic experiences in building individuals of strong character. Barron coached
football, wrestling and tennis at Cornell from 1959–1978; coached football and wrestling and served as
athletic director at Coe from 1971–1978; coached wrestling and served as athletic director and assistant
to the president at Cornell from 1978–1982; served as vice‐president at Cornell 1982–1993; and ended
his career at Coe as athletic director and assistant to the president 1993–2001.
Barron served as president of the NCAA College Wrestling Coaches Association and served on
the NCAA Wrestling Committee and NCAA Swimming Committee. He was elected to the College
Wrestling Coaches Hall of Fame, to the Coe College Athletics Hall of Fame, and to the Cornell College
Sports Hall of Fame. In 2001, Coe College created the annual “Barron Bremner Outstanding Athlete
Award” in honor of Barron’s many years of outstanding service to the college, its students and the
community. In 2011, Coe and Cornell established “The Bremner Cup,” an all‐sport traveling trophy in
honor of Barron and his 42 years of service with both colleges.
Barron married Elizabeth “Bette” (Bates) Bremner on August 9, 1961, in Allee Chapel on
Cornell’s campus. Always celebrating the abundance in life, they enjoyed a family of six children. After
29 years of marriage, Bette preceded him in death in 1990. He married Virginia “Ginne” (Fristedt)
Bremner on December 16, 1994, at their home in Mt. Vernon, adding in countless ways to both the
family and their shared fun.
In addition to his wife, Ginne, he is survived by five children and their spouses: Barbara Bremner
and her husband Peter Stevenson of Des Moines; William Bremner and his wife Lynn (Klinge) of
Minneapolis; Brenda (Bremner) Clark and her husband Dr. Jeff Clark of Cedar Falls; Dr. Rebecca Bremner
and her husband Matthew Pigg of Portland, OR; and Dr. Barron Bremner and his wife Britt (Skogman) of
Des Moines. He is also survived by stepson Steven McLeran and his wife Laura (McComas) of North
Liberty.
Known as “Papa” to them all, Barron is survived by sixteen grandchildren: Gabriel and Xavier
Stevenson; Samantha, Madeline, and Abigail Bremner; Gabriel and Jenna Clark; Perry Henderson;
Sabine, Henry, and Eleanor Pigg; Maclain, Kylie, and Tatum Bremner; Lucas and Samuel McLeran.
Additionally, Barron is survived by two brothers and a sister: Dr. Robert Bremner of Cedar Falls,
Rear Admiral Bruce Bremner of Colorado Springs and Elizabeth (Bremner) Isaac of New Virginia. Barron
was preceded in death by his wife Bette in 1990, his daughter Elizabeth Noel Bremner in 1992, and his
brother Dr. George W. “Bill” Bremner in 2007.
Barron was larger than life. He touched the lives and shaped the futures of countless students
and athletes over the years. He has left the world a much greater place and will be greatly missed by all
who knew him.
A public celebration of Barron’s life will be held Saturday, March 3rd at 2 p.m. in Sinclair
Auditorium at Coe College. A reception will follow at Coe’s Clark Alumni House.
Friends may, if they wish, make a memorial gift to Coe College, Cornell College, Iowa City
Hospice or, as Barron suggested some time ago, “give a double‐dip ice cream cone to a child.”