Thomas William Brekke

Thomas William Brekke, 55, of Lewiston, died Monday morning April 23, 2007 at his home. He was born on March 1, 1952 in Fort Dodge, Iowa, and lived with his family in Pocohontas, Iowa. They moved to a farm near Cherry Grove, Minnesota, then to a farm near Chester, Iowa. Tom grew up on the farm with his loving family. Thomas graduated from Riceville Community High School in 1970. He served in the National Guard and farmed near Saratoga, Iowa where he found inspiration for his cartoon series, "The Original Bullshipper Gang" published weekly in the Riceville Recorder.Thomas and Sherri Marie Foster were married on August 17, 1985. Their son Matthew William Brekke is a university student in Winona, Minnesota. Thomas became a software engineer for IBM in Rochester, Minnesota after graduating from Winona State University with a degree in Composite Engineering. He was a published author in this field. Thomas & Sherri made their home in Lewiston, Minnesota where Tom was an active member in the Lion's Club and organized the Legion Baseball Team. Tom was a member of St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church.The loves of Tom's life are his wife, Sherri, and their son, Matthew. His passions were family & friends and scuba diving expeditions to Cozumel and the Cayman Islands. Thomas loved his son's baseball games, gourmet cooking, gardening, vintage tomatoes, music, literature, art and theatre, especially the Irish Feaste. Tom is survived by his wife Sherri of Lewiston, son Matthew of Winona, parents, Bill and Lorraine Brekke of Chester, IA, a brother Frank (Ruthann) Brekke of Rochester, sisters, Ann (Vince) Steffen of Mazeppa; Michelle (Ray) Beets of Callendar, IA; Kathy (Dean) Stern of LeRoy; Patricia (Mike) Magnuson of Eden Prairie, MN; Barb (Brian) Hackman of Rochester and Kristine (Jack) Larson of Little Fork, MN.He is preceded in death by his maternal grandparents, Frank and Mary Miller, his paternal grandparents, Jacob and Celina Brekke, and his godmother, Frances (Miller) Williams.A Funeral Mass will be offered at 11AM Thursday at St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church in Lewiston with The Reverends James Callahan and Marreddy Pothireddy officiating. Friends may call from 4-8 PM Wednesday at Hoff Funeral Home's, Lewiston Chapel. They may also call one hour before services at the church on Thursday.Memorials preferred through Security State Bank (225 East Main Street, Lewiston, MN 55952) for the Lewiston Cancer Fund, Hospice of Winona County and a scoreboard for the Lewiston baseball field. Please share a memory of Tom on his on-line guestbook at www.hofffuneral.com.
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