May 9, 1928 – February 4, 2022
Norma Brenner, 93, passed away February 4, 2022 at St. Alexius Hospital in Bismarck, ND. Memorial services were held Monday, February 7, 2022 at First Baptist Church in McIntosh.
Norma was born May 9, 1928, thirteen miles south of McIntosh to Christ and Henrietta (Gregor) Vilhauer. She attended the Vilhauer Country School until the second grade when the family moved to McIntosh. This was the dirty thirties and the family spent extended periods in Idaho picking beets and potatoes, which caused her to fall behind in school, but she graduated from McIntosh High School in 1948. During high school she worked at the grocery store as well as Mattern Bakery and Café.
Norma married Robert William Brenner on September 12, 1948, at the First Baptist Church in McIntosh. They lived on a ranch north of Watauga where they farmed and milked cows. The family moved into McIntosh in 1969 where she worked at the Hilltop Café and Jack & Jill Grocery before retiring at 69 years of age in 1997. She then lived part-time in Bismarck.
Norma and Robert were baptized at the Isabel Baptist Church on November 13, 1949. They then joined the First Baptist Church of McIntosh. Norma was the janitor of the church from 1977 to 2020. She was active in the Women’s Missionary Fellowship of the First Baptist Church and was a member of American Legion Auxiliary.
Grateful for having shared her life are her children: Sheila Hayes, Sidney (Melva) Brenner, Cynthia (Perry) Schnabel and Jeffrey (Barbara) Brenner; 9 grandchildren and 23 great-grandchildren; one brother, Harvey (Beverly) Vilhauer; and one brother-in-law, Reuben Brenner; and many nephews and nieces and numerous others who called her “mom” or “grandma.”
Norma is preceded in death by her parents; her husband Robert (who died June 10, 1977); grandson Travis Brenner; and the following sisters, brother and sisters-in-law: Elsie (Robert) Riedlinger, Zella (Paul) Schafer, Esther (Lewis) Smith, Mary Lou Brenner, Bertha (Reinhold) Schadler, Charles (Isabelle) Brenner, Helen (Joe) Ketchum, Emma (Wilbert) Handel, Emil (Bertha/ Jeanette) Brenner and Clarence (Margaret) Brenner.
Memorials are preferred to First Baptist Church in McIntosh.