Gretchen Bruhnke

Please come and celebrate our Mom, Gretchen Midkiff Bruhnke, on the 3rd of July. It will be at Fontenelle Park Pavillion, Omaha, NE, 2-5pm. We are encouraging everyone to wear red (Mom's favorite color) or green and gold for her favorite team, the Packers. There will be food, a memorial display, and a time for sharing stories/thoughts/memories. Below is a link to the location on Google maps.

May 3rd, 1960-June 11th, 2023

Gretchen was born in Petoskey, MI to Harold and Mary Midkiff. She grew up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. She went to Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, for a short while. She loved Chicago! Gretchen transferred to Michigan Tech to be with Kenneth D. Bruhnke, who she was married to from 1979-1995. They had two children, Elspeth and Michelle. Gretchen put her college dreams on hold to raise her children, moving to Indiana and Kentucky, followed by Wales and England.

Gretchen and her family enjoyed traveling and visiting new places. She took notes about everything they saw, as well as documenting it all in photographs. From castles in England, lochs in Scotland, canals in Italy, cathedrals in France, to waterfalls and mountains in the U.S.

After her divorce, Gretchen and her children moved to Green Bay, WI, where she fell in love with the Green Bay Packers. She remained a Packer fan through thick and thin! She restarted her college plans, going to Northeast Wisconsin Technical College, where she completed her associate degree in Industrial Model Building. While pursuing her degree, Gretchen built a scale model of a bridge in Green Bay. She was proud to have the honor of displaying her model at a local museum.

After both children were in college, she moved to Appleton, WI, followed by Florida, Wyoming, and eventually Omaha, NE. Gretchen worked for various industrial companies, working on blueprints for piping systems. She took pride in her work and excelled at adapting to the industry’s changing technologies. She was always willing to learn new things and to help others along the way.

Gretchen loved creating new things. Dresses and outfits for the children growing up, spectacular cakes for birthday parties, quilts, and knitted blankets for her family, and was always working on plans for building a log cabin.

Gretchen enjoyed all things Star Trek and was an avid sci-fi fan. She loved listening to George Michael and watching crafting shows.

The most important part of Gretchen’s life was her children and her granddaughter, Willow. She planned on moving to be closer to her granddaughter, but passed away from a sudden illness before that could happen.

Gretchen was preceded in death by her Father (Harold), Mother (Mary), and two brothers (Bruce and Matthew.) She is survived by her siblings, Jackie, Nancy, Hal, David, Joseph, and Michael, and their children and families. She is also survived by her children, Elspeth (Robert), and Michelle (Jarrod), and granddaughter, Willow.

She will be loved and missed by all her family.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Gretchen Bruhnke, please visit our floral store.