Florence Pauline Brunner

Florence Pauline Brunner, 95, a longtime resident of Wamego, Kansas, passed away Monday, September 7, 2009 in Manhattan, Kansas, just two months before her 96th birthday. Florence was born November 7, 1913 in Paxico, Kansas, the daughter of Frank and Otilla (Hund) Muchenthaler. Florence attended Sacred Heart Grade School, Paxico High School, graduating in 1930, and graduated from St. Francis Hospital School of Nursing in Topeka in 1932. Upon graduation, she practiced nursing in Chicago and Topeka. While on special work assignment to Wamego’s Genn Hospital, she met Dr. Benjamin Brunner, Jr. They were married May 20, 1939 in Newbury, KS. Dr. “Bud” preceded her in death September 29, 1957. Florence worked as a registered nurse from 1932 until marriage in 1939, then worked as a nurse as Valley Vista Good Samaritan Center in Wamego from 1968 until her retirement in 1978. She was active in the Wamego community. She served on boards of St. Bernard’s Catholic Church and the St. Bernard’s School. She also served on the Genn Hospital Board of Directors, and Wamego Country Club, and was very involved in the Pottawatomie County Democratic Party, and the Kansas and Wamego Centennial celebrations. Her love for her husband Bud engendered her passion for cooking and entertaining, golf and K.U. sports. Survivors include: one daughter, Gretchen Mithen, of Wamego, Kansas; her son, Benjamin Brunner III, and his wife Joann, of Manhattan, Kansas; and three grandsons, Kiel, Matt, and Eric Brunner. She was also preceded in death by her three sisters, Mary Magdelene, Gertrude, and Mary Mercedes; and one brother, Manuel. Mass of Christian burial will be Saturday, September 12, 2009, at 10:30 a.m. at St. Bernard’s Catholic Church in Wamego. The Rosary will be recited at the church at 10:00 a.m. Saturday, followed by the Funeral Mass. Burial will be in St. Bernard’s Catholic Cemetery. Mrs. Brunner will lie in-state at the Stewart Funeral Home of Wamego where friends may pay respects on Friday from 12:00 p.m. until 6:30 p.m. In lieu of flowers, memorials are suggested to Pottawatomie County E.M.S. and may be left in care of the funeral home, P.O. Box 48, Wamego, 66547.