Frank William Brehmer

Frank William Brehmer, loving husband and father, outdoorsman, senior manager in the packaging industry, and WWII Iwo Jima veteran, died on Thursday evening, November 25, 2010, of pneumonia, at age 84.Mr. Brehmer was born on December 27, 1925, in Wausau, Wisconsin, to Adolph Carl and Nina Haertel Brehmer, the sixth of eight surviving children, and graduated from Zion Lutheran and Wausau East High school. He was an avid outdoorsman who was providing for his family by the age of 12, remaining a skilled hunter and fisherman all his life. As a member of the “Greatest Generation”, he was a man of duty and principle who volunteered to fight as soon as age allowed. Enlisting in the Marine Corps on December 18, 1943, at age 17, he completed basic training and advanced radio operation at Camp Pendleton, California. His unit, 2nd Battalion, Artillery, served on the Marshalls and Marianas, landed on Iwo Jima on February 20, 1945, fought there through March 20, and witnessed the flag raising on Mount Surabachi. He also served in Guam, Saipan, Kyushu, and Nagasaki, arriving one month after the atom bomb. He and two brothers made news when David, in the Pacific Navy; Wilbur, in the Army serving in Europe, and he were miraculously reunited in Guam in July 1945.He was honorably discharged, returned home to Wausau in August 1946, and married Elizabeth Petersen on August 14, 1948. Together, they built two homes in Wisconsin and raised their family. He loved family outings, hunting pheasant and deer, fishing for muskie & salmon in small lakes and the Great Lakes, travelling, reading, history, building, and making things work. He could recall the names of every place he had ever been. He took advanced study in statistics and began a long, distinguished career with American Can Company (now James River), retiring as the Quality Assurance Manager in 1985. Frank and Elizabeth retired to Harlingen, Texas, and were reinvigorated with lots of new friends and activities, especially sightseeing in their motor home - among the best times of their lives. They moved to El Paso in 2005, again finding new friends and activities to enjoy.Mr.Brehmer is survived by his wife of 62 years, Elizabeth; sister Leah Schuett (& Paul), Venice FL; daughters, Barbara Upsal (& Joe), El Paso, TX, and Diane Brehmer (& John Reese), Saint Paul, MN; grandson, Kent Reese, of Saint Paul, and many nieces and nephews. Funeral services will be held on Tuesday, November 30, at 4:00 p.m. at Trinity Lutheran Church, 3800 Hondo Pass, El Paso, TX. Burial will be at Restlawn Memorial Cemetery in Wausau, Wisconsin. Services entrusted to Sunset Funeral Home-West. Please visit our online register book at www.sunsetfuneralhomes.net.