The Superior Express -

Mary Beth (Reiss) Bruning was born on a farm near Belvidere, on April 14, 1929, to Paul and Amy (Babka) Reiss. Midwife Mary Spickelmier was set to do the delivery, but since Mary was breach, Dr. Bancroft was summoned from Hebron. Dr. Bancroft traveled on an unpaved, muddy Highway 81 arriving just in time to deliver Mary. Brother Walter Edward joined the family in 1933.

Mary’s younger years were filled with joy and adventures as she,brother Walt and cousins Ed and Leonard Babka and Lucy Kerl were often up to no good...or “responsible play” as they would tell their parents. They were thick as thieves until their dying days. In her younger years, Mary discovered that gardening was one of her greatest passions.

The untimely death of father Paul, when Mary was just 14, forced her to grow up faster than most. Because her mother had to work to provide for the family, Mary was “as much of a mother [to Walt] as a little brother would allow her to be” while taking on several of the household responsibilities. To make ends meet, she and Walt would peddle vegetables from their garden and bread their mother made throughout Belvidere. Regardless of the hardships, the loss and the struggles, the Reiss home was filled with love and gratitude.

Mary graduated from Belvidere High School in 1947 and Lincoln School of Commerce in 1949. Mary was emptying garbage cans at Bruning State Bank when a dashing Frank Bruning stepped off the bus as he returned from World War II. When he entered the bank to say hello to his father, Mary met the love of her life. On June 5, 1949, Frank and Mary were married at Bruning’s Trinity Lutheran Church. This union would last four days short of 71 years with the passing of Frank in June 2020. They lived for a short time in Palmer,

Neb., but eventually settled west of Bruning. Two children, Jane Ann in 1950 and Fred Douglas in 1952, were born to this union.

Frank and Mary started a registered Hereford herd in 1950 and in 1961 created Feedlot Fencing, Inc., a business which grew out of the innovative use of oilfield pipe and rods. Feedlot Fencing provides steel rods and pipe, along with gates and panels that Feedlot Fencing manufactures for feedlots, ranches, dairies, bison and horse

operations across the Midwest. Mary’s business aptitude and dedication to running a successful business helped Feedlot Fencing grow exponentially. She was a “hard working, not-afraid-to-get-dirty woman” whose thumbprint can be found surrounding pastures, feedlots and fields in all directions from Bruning.

Throughout the years, Mary was a 4-H leader, taught sewing lessons through the extension office, cut down countless cedar trees and thistles in the pastures and painted miles of fence. She took pride in being a Bruning and worked endlessly to improve the area. Mary made up for every tree she cut down by planting more...just in a better place.

She enjoyed the fresh air, watching the children play, the flowers bloom and her garden grow. When confined to the indoors, Mary was most of the time in the sunroom sewing or cross-stitching blocks for the next baby blanket or quilt she was making for someone. She was also an expert woodworker, staining miles of baseboard, door frames and doors for anyone who asked.

Travel was something Mary loved to do, but Frank’s aversion to flying kept them grounded in the US. That didn’t stop them from discovering thousands of miles of the open roads. Often their end destination included a visit with family or friends, which made those journeys even more worthwhile.

She was always a strong supporter of area 4-H, the Bruning Community

Foundation and served on the village board. Mary was a faithful member of Trinity Lutheran Church in Bruning for more than 70 years. Frank and Mary were honored in 1998 with the Nebraska Bankers Association Agribusiness award for outstanding contributions to agriculture and agribusiness. However, their biggest honor was being parents to Jane and Fred and their chosen partners in life, Tom and Penni respectively.

Mary was preceded in death by her husband, Frank; parents, Paul Reiss and Amy Reiss Lapcheska; and brother, Dr. Walter E. Reis.

She is survived by daughter, Jane Tonniges of Omaha; son, Fred D. Bruning of Bruning; six grandchildren;

and 11 great-grandchildren.

Her funeral was held Oct.11, at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bruning.

Interment was in the Trinity Lutheran Cemetery following the service.