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Henry Brandau,
91, of the Wilson Community, Owyhee County, Idaho died
peacefully Friday, October 14, 2005 at a Nampa health care
facility with his wife by his side. Funeral services will be
at 2:00 P. M. Monday, October 24, 2005 at Alsip & Persons
Funeral Chapel, 404 10th Avenue South, Nampa, Idaho 466-3545.
Viewing will be on Monday from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. before
the services at the Funeral Home.
Henry
was born February 9, 1914 at Wilson, Idaho
to Minnie and George Brandau, the fourth of eight children. He
attended school at
Wilson where he graduated from the
eighth grade, and grew into a man who could do anything he set
his mind to. He was an exceptional mechanic and was known to
tear a piece of machinery clear down and put it back together
just to know how it all worked (although we did talk him into
leaving the microwave oven alone).
He
met and courted Betty Berdeen Backer while she was teaching at Wilson in the one room school. They were
married on May 29, 1944 at the home of her parents, Byrdie and
Chris Backer in the Lone Tree Community. They lived and farmed
south of Melba, Idaho
for three years during which time their two daughters, Becky
and Merle, were born. They moved to the Schuster place on
Reynolds Creek in 1947. Their son Richard was born while they
lived there. Henry spent several years helping build a new
house for his parents after he bought the ranch from them. In
1948 he and Betty and their family moved into the "old house."
Henry farmed, milked for awhile and raised beef cattle. He
continually added to the ranch holdings. He helped organize
and became a shareholder in the Chipmunk Grazing Association.
He bought a grazing permit from Ralph and Lydia Bailey, a
grazing section at Squaw Butte from Andy Hurley in 1955 and
purchased the Dan Hurley ranch in 1967. He helped his son and
son-in-law with the purchase of the McMahan permit and grazing
section in 1984. Henry rebuilt the Hurleys old homestead cabin
on Cottonwood Creek into a snug, tight cow camp. The
"Cottonwood Hilton" (as the pink 14 x 16 foot cabin came to be
known) was the place that he most enjoyed going to. His kids
and grand-kids have great memories of hunting, fishing,
fencing and gathering cows at Cottonwood
with Henry. Betty and Henry continued to live in the house on
Reynolds Creek, in which Henry had been born, until 2003 when
poor health dictated their move to SunBridge.
During his lifetime Henry accomplished a great deal. He was
Watermaster on Reynolds Creek for several years in the 1930s.
He served on the Wilson School Board and on the Glendale
School Board when those two schools consolidated. He was a
charter member of the Wilson Community, Inc and donated the
land for the Wilson Fire House to the Murphy-Reynolds-Wilson
Volunteer Fire District. He was one of the creators of and an
original member of the Chipmunk Grazing Association. He served
on the Owyhee County Fair Board and the Owyhee Soil
Conservation Service. He was a member of the Owyhee
Cattlemen's Association and was honored with a lifetime
membership in 1988.
Henry is survived by
his wife of sixty-one years, Betty B. Brandau; daughter Becky
(Don) Stewart of Casper, Wyoming; son Richard (Connie) Brandau
of Wilson, Idaho; grandchildren K. C. (Kristine) Brandau of
Meridian, Idaho; Shelley (David) Petzold of Middleton,
Wisconsin; Joe (Yayoi) Malmberg of Nagoya, Japan; Cindy (Jack)
Truitt of Oak Point, Texas; Barry (Anna) Malmberg of Corvalis,
Oregon; Jody (Kyle) Moos of Wilson, Idaho; six
great-grandchildren: Ashley and Shelby Brandau; Rachel and
Paul Petzold; Kate Malmberg; Hannah Moos; siblings Gertrude
McMahan and Esther Cambron.
He was
preceded in death by his parents; daughter Merle (Bruce)
Malmberg; grandson Jeremy Stewart; sisters Louise Pline,
Martha Bradley, Marie Kaursch; brothers Carl Brandau and Con
Brandau.
The family would like to thank
the staff at SunBridge Health and Rehabilitation skilled
nursing facility who have so kindly cared for Henry for the
past two years, especially Renae, Cheryl, Frankie and the
Julies, Sues and Tammies. A special thanks also goes to his
table-mates Stella and Irene who were always there to lend a
helping hand when Henry would say "I need Stella," |
