Bruening, Sonja Diane (Berg) 1937 - 2017

BRUENING, BERG, RAMLO, GESS-BRUENING, HAGENSICK, YOUNG, LLOYD, NOVAK, CARLSON, WHITE

Posted By: Joy Moore (email)
Date: 6/16/2017 at 11:57:42

Sonja D. Bruening, age 79, of Decorah, Iowa, passed away peacefully on Monday, June 12, 2017 at her home in Decorah.

Visitation will be Friday, June 16, 2017 from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. at Fjelstul Funeral Home in Decorah. A private family burial will be held at St. Benedict Catholic Cemetery in Decorah.

Sonja Dianne Bruening was born on November 1, 1937 in Decorah, Iowa to Wessly and Virginia (Ramlo) Berg. She attended Decorah Schools and graduated from Decorah High School with the class of 1955. Sonja married Lowell “Buzz” Bruening on September 13, 1958 at St. Benedict Catholic Church and became a military wife. They were stationed throughout the U.S. including Texas and New Hampshire before returning to Decorah in 1967. To this union four children were born: De Layne, James, Gretchen, and Wade.

Sonja had a long, fulfilled life and was the glue and caretaker of her family. She truly enjoyed and spoiled her kids, grandkids, and great grandson and was nicknamed “Grandma Purse" by a few of them, as they knew she always had something in her purse for them. Besides raising her four children, she enjoyed dancing, bowling and was known for her gardening, her love for the outdoors, bird watching, collecting elephant figurines and antiques. She delivered newspapers in her younger motherhood years and she and Buzz ran The Maid Rite in Decorah in the 1990s. She was known to her family as Molly B.

Sonja is survived by her four children, De Layne Bruening, James (Denise) Bruening, Gretchen Bruening, and Wade Bruening all of Decorah; four grandchildren, Tauren Gess-Bruening, Sarah (Travis) Hagensick, Maxwell and Owen Bruening; two step grandchildren, Lexy (Ryan) Young and Lindsay Lloyd; one great-grandson, Joseph Gess-Bruening; one sister Cheryl Novak of Spillville; brother and sister-in-law Duane and Eileen Bruening; sister-in-law Loma Carlson; and numerous nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Lowell Buzz Bruening on February 15, 2017, her parents Wessly and Virginia Berg; one sister-in-law, Beverly White; and two brothers-in-law, Fritz Carlson and Tim Novak.

Sonja would have been pleased if memorials were sent to St. Benedict Church Capital Campaign, 307 W. Main Street, Decorah, IA 52101.

Source: Fjelstul Funeral Home database

St. Benedict Cemetery
 

Winneshiek Obituaries maintained by Bruce Kuennen.
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