Obituary of Emery Brandt

Emery Clause Brandt passed away October 18, 2011. Emery was born July 28, 1924 to Edward and Marie (Wiebener) Brandt on his grandfather Clause Wiebener's farm in Sioux Valley, Jackson County, Minnesota. In 1940 he was confirmed in the Trinity Lutheran Church in Sioux Valley, Minnesota by Pastor Martin Lieske. There were nine class members. Emery loved his Lord and prayed to Him daily! He graduated from Sioux Valley High School in 1943, from a class of 13 members. He worked on the farm for his two Uncles, Chris and Harry Wiebener, and Uncle Frank and Aunt Elsie Benda of Jackson, Minnesota before going into the Army in the fall of 1944. He did his boot camp training at Camp Hood in Texas. Emery was stationed in Germany and Austria with the Military Police for two years. He then returned to the United States in the fall of 1946. There were three generations of Brandts in the service: Edward Brandt World War I, Emery Brandt World War II and Douglas Brandt Viet Nam. Emery married Betty Jane Hackbarth on September 4, 1948 at the First Presbyterian Church in Lake Park, Iowa by the Rev. Carl Sinning. They were blessed to have celebrated 63 years of marriage. They were blessed with three children: Douglas, Kevin and Kathleen. He took up dry cleaning on the GI Bill, working in Lakefield, Minnesota and Spirit Lake, Iowa. He bought the Lake Park Cleaners from Lincoln Miller in 1955 and was in the business for 20 years until wash and wear came along. Emery drove a milk truck for the Sioux Valley Creamery, worked for Allen Arnold Feed Business until it was sold to the Farmers Exchange and worked for them for 24 years. He also worked for Arco when they first started in 1947, bringing loads of alfalfa which were brought in by tractors and wagons. After retiring from the Farmers Exchange in 1989, he drove truck for Arco again. Emery was very active in the community. He was a member of the American Legion for 65 years; was President of the Lions Club; Superintendent of the Concordia Lutheran Sunday School. He sponsored a bowling team for the Lake Park Cleaners; worked with the Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts when his two sons, Douglas and Kevin, were members. He also took the church tapes to shut in members of Concordia Lutheran Church each week for ten years. In his retirement, Emery enjoyed playing on a horseshoe team in the summer and in the winter playing pool and cards in different homes of friends. Emery is survived by his wife, Betty Jane; sons, Douglas Brandt and his wife, Mary, of Cheyenne, Wyoming, Kevin Brandt and his wife, Mary Jo, and their son, Jordan, of Eagan, Minnesota; daughter, Kathleen Brandt Vasa and her children, Bronson, Devin and Emma, of Sioux Falls, South Dakota; brother, Carlyle (Cocky) Brandt and his wife, Lennace, of Spirit Lake, Iowa; nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents and brothers Everett and Abner Brandt.