Obituary of Mary Brenneman

Mary I. Brenneman, 86, was born in Minneapolis, MN December 5, 1921and passed away May 26, 2008 after a lengthy illness. She attended school in Minneapolis before moving to Des Moines, IA where she graduated from Roosevelt High School. She married William R. Brenneman in 1946 and bore two sons; William Martin and Richard Blair. Mary's family moved twenty-one times and not always in the same school district so she attended many schools and in three different states. She would respond to being called "The New Girl" as quickly as "Mary". She was an avid reader and became familiar with the English classics early. A fan of theatrical art, she had the unique experience of being in the audience when Orson Wells, arriving in Des Moines on a miserable snowy evening with no one to meet him, found his way to the Shrine Auditorium to a few devoted fans scattered throughout the theatre and then spoke those oft quoted lines, "There are so few of you and so much of me. Won't you all come closer?" He then proceeded to give a performance worthy of a packed house. Mary joined her husband in Tulsa in 1947 where he had gone to work for American Airlines. She soon grew tired of cleaning one room and joined Tri -State Insurance, founded and headed by Perry Inhoffe whose brother she worked for in Des Moines before becoming legal secretary in the law firm of Reed and Elick. Mary was preceded in death by her youngest son, Richard Blair and is survived by her husband of the home and her son William Martin. Private family committal to take place Friday, May 30. www.ninde.com Ninde Brookside 918.42.55567