April 2, 1929 - November 7, 2016

Kai Myron Brand age 88, of Fontanelle

Died Monday November 7, 2016 at the Hooper Care Center.

Myron, lifelong resident of Dodge and Washington Counties was born on August 2, 1928 in rural Dodge County, baptized on April 2, 1929 at First Lutheran Church in Fremont, and raised in rural Dodge County by his parents Oscar and Vernie Brand. He attended rural school, was confirmed on March 29, 1942 at Salem Lutheran in Fremont and graduated from Fremont High School in 1947. He was crowned 4-H King at the Fremont 4-H fair in 1947. He was a lifetime supporter of the 4-H program. During Myron’s working years he farmed northwest of Fremont, hauled milk and livestock and was a cattle buyer for area youth and for his own family. He married Anita Ritzen on August 2, 1949 at Salem Lutheran Church in Fontanelle. Myron enjoyed many years of bowling and softball for church and town leagues and was a member of Salem Lutheran Church in Fontanelle.

Survivors: Wife – Anita of Fontanelle

Son – Douglas (Gail) Brand of Seward

Daughters – Nancy (Joel) Schroeder of Hooper

Jan (Galen) Madsen of Lincoln

9 grandchildren – Eric (Natalie) Schilling, Kylie (Jason) Penke, Krissy (Russ) Ozenbaugh, Ben Schroeder, Jacob (Morgan) Schroeder, Seth (Kiley) Schroeder, JoHanna (Scott) Buchholz, Marta (Jason) Klug, Hans (Kelsey Bohling) Madsen

8 great grandchildren – Luke & Lincoln Schilling, Tate & Tye Penke, Riggins and Rustin Ozenbaugh, Adaya Klug, and Lydia Buchholz.

Brothers – Duane (Elaine) Brand of Fremont, Darold (Kathy) Brand of Fremont, Steven (Paula) Brand of Longmont, CO.; Randy (Peggy) Brand of Fremont, Sister Marilyn Taylor of California, sister-in-law Connie Brand of Fremont

Myron was preceded in death by his parents, brother Kenneth and great granddaughter Allison Penke.

The funeral service will be 10:30am Friday at Salem Lutheran Church, Fontanelle. Burial will follow in the Salem Lutheran Cemetery. Visitation will be in Fremont at the Ludvigsen Mortuary Chapel on Thursday from 3pm to 8pm with the family present from 6pm to 8pm. Memorials are suggested to Salem Lutheran Fontanelle, Hooper Care Center or the Dodge County 4-H foundation.

Online guestbook at www.Ludvigsenmortuary.com

Shakes in hand, loved ones bid sweet farewell to ice cream fan Myron Brand By Courtney Brummer-Clark / World-Herald staff writer Nov 21, 2016

(Photo & Caption Friends and family at Myron Brand’s funeral Nov. 11 at Salem Lutheran Church in Fontanelle, Nebraska, received an ice cream treat, courtesy of the Fremont Dairy Queen. Brand was well-known for his love of ice cream.

Myron Brand loved ice cream — and loved sharing it with his family and friends.

He was known for treating people he knew to ice cream. If a friend was in the hospital, Brand would take the patient a shake. Whenever he helped out with a 4-H activity in his hometown of Fontanelle, Nebraska, he would bring ice cream treats for all the young people.

Before he died Nov. 7 at the age of 88, after a long struggle with Parkinson’s disease dementia, his last meal was a dish of vanilla ice cream.

So perhaps it was only fitting that ice cream was served at his funeral Nov. 11.

“It was a nice tribute,” said his daughter Nancy Schroeder of Hooper, Nebraska. “The best way to celebrate his life was to have ice cream.”

Brand spent his life in Dodge and Washington Counties. He graduated from Fremont High School in 1947. He was crowned 4-H king at the fair that year and became a lifetime supporter of 4-H. In addition to farming land northwest of Fremont, he hauled milk and livestock and was a cattle buyer.

He was married 67 years and is survived by his wife, Anita, and their three children. He enjoyed bowling and softball and was a member of Salem Lutheran Church in Fontanelle, where his funeral was held.

Growing up, ice cream was a constant in the Brand family, Schroeder said.

“We’d go through ice cream pretty steadily,” she said. “We didn’t even have air conditioning growing up, so we would cool off at night with a bowl of cereal or a bowl of ice cream. If mom baked, then we’d have ice cream and cake or ice cream and pie. That’s why none of us are skinny.”

In the last few years Brand’s illness took a physical toll, and he was eventually moved to the Hooper Care Center. Schroeder said her father — who once had a booming voice and stood 6 feet tall at 250 pounds — lost weight, suffered memory loss and was unable to speak.

“His mind was pretty much gone, but he would still kind of perk up if somebody gave him ice cream,” she said.

When Schroeder’s husband, Joel, the pastor at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Hooper, was planning the sermon for Brand’s funeral, he contacted the Fremont Dairy Queen to see how much 125 cups of ice cream would cost, never mentioning it would be for Brand’s service.

Debbie Reynolds, the restaurant’s manager, contacted her parents — the Dairy Queen owners — for advice on what to tell the pastor. Jim and Mary Winterstein, now of Surprise, Arizona, have owned Fremont’s only Dairy Queen for 30 years.

“I had forgotten to ask (Joel Schroeder) who it was for,” Reynolds said. “So my parents asked where the funeral was, and I told them it was in Fontanelle. They said, ‘Oh, that’s for Myron Brand.’ They told me to donate (the ice cream) because he had been coming to us for years.”

The morning of the funeral, Reynolds and three of her staff members formed a shake-making assembly line and filled 125 DQ Mini Blizzard cups with pineapple, strawberry, vanilla or chocolate shakes. It took the group a little more than a half hour to prepare the treats.

They then loaded the filled cups into portable coolers and packed straws, spoons and napkins in preparation for the 10-mile trip to the church in Fontanelle. A family friend picked up the coolers, and Brand’s grandsons distributed the shakes to people during the service.

“We just had a little party right there in the church,” Nancy Schroeder said. “He would have loved (having shakes) at his own funeral, and he would have hated to miss it.”

~~~ Obituary courtesy of the Washington County Genealogical Society. Newspaper clippings on file in the Blair Public Library at Blair, Nebraska.~~~