Obituary: Brunz, Oliver Leroy “Ollie”
Born on January 19, 1927 in Fort Collins, CO to Jacob and Martha Brunz.
He grew up in the Wellington, CO area on a farm.
Ollie attended school in Wellington and graduated from Wellington High School in 1945.
He joined the Navy in January 1945, serving in the South Pacific.
He was honorably discharged in July 1946.
He returned to Colorado and worked at Ideal Cement Plant in Fort Collins.
Ollie married Lorraine L. Fahrenbruch on May 6, 1947.
They had one daughter, Cheryl Louise Brunz in 1948.
Ollie and Lorraine moved to Las Animas, CO in 1947 where he worked at the VA Hospital for a short time.
They then moved back to Fort Collins where he worked on a farm, then returned to the cement plant.
In 1950 Ollie went to airline school and was hired by Frontier Airlines.
He retired 35 years later in Missoula, MT in 1984.
Ollie worked in many stations served by Frontier.
During his career he worked at Grand Junction, CO, Cheyenne, WY, Salt Lake City, UT, Denver, CO, Sidney, NE, Pueblo, CO, Albuquerque, NM, Billings, MT and Missoula, MT.
He worked as station agent, manager and regional manager.
Ollie and Lorraine enjoyed their “nomadic” life style.
While working for Frontier they traveled to many places on the airlines including Hawaii, Tokyo, Mexico and in the United States.
After retiring they built a log house in Victor, MT where they lived until 1989.
They then moved to Spokane to be near their daughter and family.
In 1990 they became snowbirds in Yuma, AZ where they spent the winters and summers in Spokane for the next 20 years.
Ollie joined the Elks Club in Pueblo, CO.
He was a member of the Lilac City Good Sams in Spokane with whom they enjoyed camping in their 5th wheel.
He also was a member of Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Spokane.
Ollie is survived by his loving wife Lorraine of 67 years; grandsons Roy Brewster of Spokane and Bill (Patti) Troup of Deer Park, sister Shirley (Keith) Roth of Fort Collins, CO, great-grandson Dylan Troup, step great-grandchildren Sadie and Reilley.
He was preceded in death by his daughter Cheryl Brewster, sister Roine Cable, brothers Norman and Kenneth Brunz.
A Memorial Service will be held at 2:00 pm on Tuesday, February 18, 2014 at Holy Cross Lutheran Church, 7307 N Nevada St, Spokane, WA 99208.