Ray Brudelie
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HANSKA Ray Brudelie, 87, a resident of the Sleepy Eye Care Center, formerly of Hanska and New Ulm, died Tuesday, June 30, 2009 at the Sleepy Eye Medical Center.
Funeral service will be 10:30 a.m., Friday, July 3 at Zion Lutheran Church in Hanska with Rev. Aaron Suomala Folkerds officiating. Burial with full military honors conducted by the New Ulm Area Comrades of Valor honor guard will follow in the New Ulm City Cemetery, at approximately 12:15 p.m.
Visitation will be 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. Thursday at Schmucker Funeral Service in Hanska and one hour prior to the service at the church.
Olaf Raymond Brudelie, Jr., the son of Olaf and Anna (Peterson) Brudelie, Sr., was born March 25, 1922 in Lake Hanska Township, Brown County. He attended District 67 country school and graduated from Hanska High School in 1940. Ray worked in San Diego, CA from 1940 to 1941 for an aircraft manufacturer. He entered the U.S. Navy in 1942 and served during World War II. Following his honorable discharge in 1946, Ray returned to Hanska. Later that year, he was united in marriage to Alice Schaefer on September 4, 1946 in New Ulm. The couple made their home in New Ulm where he worked for the former Red Owl grocery store. The couple moved to Hanska where Ray worked for Hanska Meats, which he later purchased. They built a new home in Hanska in 1963. After selling Hanska Meats, Ray worked at Kraft in New Ulm from 1957 until his retirement in 1987. They moved back to New Ulm in 2004 and lived at Ridgeway on 23rd. Ray became a resident of the Sleepy Eye Care Center in 2005. He was a member of Zion Lutheran Church in Hanska and also the Oscar O. Haugen American Legion Post #365 in Hanska.
Survivors include his wife Alice of New Ulm; sister Delphine Ohland of Rothschild, WI; sisters-in-law, Shirley Brudelie of Hanska, Myra Schaefer and Delores Schaefer of New Ulm; brothers-in-law, Dennis Schaefer and wife Kathy of Wisconsin, Richard Schaefer and wife Marlene of St. James, and many nieces and nephews.
In addition to his parents, Ray was preceded in death by his sisters, Arlene Larson, Margaret Ringnell Plaisance, Evangeline Brudelie, Catherine Trammell, Gloria Brudelie; brothers, Orville, Sherman and Warren Brudelie.