Martin "Marty" BRINKMAN, Jr.

BRINKMAN, BAACK, MILLER

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 8/25/2008 at 11:53:21

SHEFFIELD, IA - Marty Brinkman, of Sheffield, died Saturday (Aug. 23, 2008) at Muse Norris Hospice Inpatient Unit in Mason City. A celebration of life will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 26, at Zion St. John Lutheran Church in Sheffield. Veteran's honors will be provided by Harlow Ray Massee Post No. 277 American Legion. Marty's family will greet friends from 6 until 9 p.m. today, Monday, Aug, 25, for Marty's Memory Night at Marty's Saloon, 112 Gilman St., Sheffield.

Martin Jr. Brinkman was born on Oct. 8, 1939 at Klemme, a son of Martin John and Meta Louisa (Baack) Brinkman. A proud Shamrock, he graduated from Klemme High School in 1957 where he was honored as an All-State Basketball Player. Marty attended Eagle Grove Junior College for one year prior to entering the United States Navy. He served at Key West, Florida, during the Bay of Pigs incident and stood on John F. Kennedy's Honor Guard. After four years in the Navy, Marty attended and graduated from Luther College.

Marty was united in marriage to Lois Deann Miller at Zion Lutheran Church in Gowrie on July 14, 1963. He taught at Ventura High School for four years where he also coached basketball and track. In 1969, he moved to Mason City and began selling insurance for Life Investors. In 1971, he moved to Algona and partnered in Burns-McCall & Brinkman Insurance and Real Estate. In 1975, he sold his interest in the agency and began to sell trailers in Algona. Marty's dream was to have a Western bar. In 1980 he moved to Sheffield and purchased an old bar. After extensive remodeling, he opened Marty's Saloon on April 1, 1980 and operated it as a family-oriented restaurant and bar. From day one every child got a free candy bar. Marty was a people person who loved to kid and joke around. He loved to teach and was very proud of any kid who did well. He played softball for Armour Star team and was inducted into the Softball Hall of Fame in 1997. He took many trips to Sturgis for the motorcycle rally and traveled to Europe and Mexico while selling insurance. In 1997 Marty suffered a brain aneurysm and gradually stopped working at the saloon, turning operation over to his wife.

Marty will be greatly missed by his wife, Lois; sons, Mike (Carla) of North Liberty and their sons, Jacob and Jared; Matthew of Council Bluffs and sons, Mason and Mitchell; brother, Garland Brinkman of Garner; sisters-in-law, Alice Brinkman of Klemme and Ina Brinkman of Ventura; many nieces and nephews. He is preceded in death by his parents and three brothers, Leo, Merlin and Ronald. Retz-Grarup Funeral Home.

Mason City Globe Gazette, Iowa
25 August 2008