Dean Edward Brunner
Marriages
Joyce Virginia Peterson - August 6, 1950
Suzanne Peterson - 1967
Laveta June Gates - 1972
Burial Details
Obituaries
Grand Junction Daily Sentinel page 7 B Death Notice - June 11, 2016
Dean Edward Brunner, 88, Montrose, died June 6, 2016, at
Montrose Memorial Hospital.
Services will take place at 10:30 a.m. Friday at Christ’s Church of the Valley in Montrose. Services will also take place at 2 p.m. June 30 at Yampa Valley Funeral Home in Steamboat Springs.
He was a rancher, cattle buyer and real estate broker.
Survivors include his wife, Laveta; one son, Monte of Steamboat Springs; two daughters, Cheri Daschle of Steamboat Springs, and Cindy Rimel of Aurora; three stepsons, Roger Wright of Grand Junction, Robert Wright of Montrose, and Rocky Wright of Church Wells, Utah; nine grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.
Steamboat Today - June 27, 2016
Dean Edward Brunner, age 88, passed away peacefully in Montrose, Colorado, on the morning of June 6 following a heart attack. Dean was born in Steamboat Springs on September 10, 1927 to Edward Valentine (Val) and Mary (Officer) Brunner.
Dean was born into a Routt County pioneer and ranching family. His grandparents, John and Anna, homesteaded in South Routt County in 1905. The family had moved from Elizabeth, Colorado. Val and his brother and sister attended school at the Lower Oak Creek country school. Val was a real “old-time” cowboy; as a teenager, he helped drive cattle on the Chisholm Trail. Val was in charge of the remuda, the string of horses. In his early 20’s, Val became a foreman on J.N. McWilliams’ Pleasant Valley Cattle Company.
Dean’s mother, Mary Officer, and her family had traveled by covered wagon from Blythedale, Missouri, and settled in the Sidney area. She was the first teacher at the newly built Mesa Schoolhouse. Dean’s parents, Val and Mary, had a storybook courtship, with the cowboy marrying the young teacher at Euzoa Congregational Church (4th and Pine, Steamboat Springs) in 1921. Val and Mary Brunner purchased a ranch at the base of Rabbit Ears Pass. There they raised three children: Dean and his two sisters, Betty and Bobbie.
Dean and his sisters attended school at the Mesa Schoolhouse, and then at Steamboat Springs High School (325 7th Street). Dean studied forestry at Colorado Agricultural and Mechanical College (now Colorado State University) in Fort Collins, Colorado for a short time before entering the military. He served in the Army Air Forces during 1946-1947 just after World War II. He was stationed at Clark Air Base in the Philippines at the 14th Communications Squadron, and was trained as a Cryptographic Technician. His work included coding and decoding long printed series of messages. He reported that there was still much danger there from Japanese snipers, who didn’t know that the war was over. Upon his return to the states, Dean completed his education at Colorado A & M, earning a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics.
On August 6, 1950, Dean married Joyce Virginia Peterson, following in his father’s footsteps of a cowboy marrying a teacher. Dean and Joyce had three children: Cheryl Dean (1952), Cindy Ann (1956) and Monte Allen (1961).
In 1954, Dean and his Dad, Val, went into partnership, calling it the “Val and Dean Ranch Company.” When Val retired in 1960, Dean took over the ranch, renaming it “The Cross Seven Cattle Company.” Later on, Dean became a well-respected cattle buyer, managing as many as 36,000 cattle at one time.
Dean married Suzanne Peterson in 1967, adding her two children, Rolly and Alaine, to their home together. Dean married Laveta June Gates in 1972, which brought three stepsons into the family: Rocky Lynn, Robert Dean, and Roger Alan. Dean and Laveta bought a home in Montrose, Colorado, and began to spend winters there, and summers here in Routt County on their place at the intersection of Hwy 131 and CR 14, on the way to what is now Stagecoach Reservoir. While in Montrose, Dean sold ranch properties for Remax.
Wherever Dean was, he enjoyed family time. He loved to play card games and dice and Laveta June’s famous cooking made these times all the better. All the kids and grandkids have fond memories of Dean’s gaming, joking and ranching. Dean was a great father and grandfather. He was loving and kind and always willing to help whether it was untangling a downed fence, witching for a water well, or pulling a car out of the ditch. Drawing from his scrap iron pile, he could fix anything. An article in a 1957 Steamboat Pilot called him “Inventin’ Winten.” He had developed what he called a “hay hand,” welding iron pipe and channel, creating an implement used to stack hay. He also designed, built and installed pumps into the two ponds on his property. He was a partner with Norton (Gonk) Jacobs for several summers, mowing and baling hay.
In the summer of 2014 the decision was made that it was time to sell what was left of the Brunner ranch – the property at Hwy. 131 and RCR 14, that they called their “cow camp.”
The process was overwhelming and very emotional. The family will always remember the laughter and fun times we had together on the ranch.
Dean is survived by his wife of 44 years, Laveta June Gates Brunner; daughters, Cheri (Dave) Daschle and Cindy (Dave) Rimel; and son, Monte (Christine) Brunner; and stepsons Rocky (Nancy) Wright, Bob Wright, and Roger (Debra) Wright; nine grandchildren and five great grandchildren.
Dean was preceded in death by his parents and his two sisters, Betty Henderson and Bobbie Carney.
Interment was at Steamboat Springs Cemetery. Services were held at Christ’s Church of the Valley on June 17 in Montrose, Colorado and will be held at Yampa Valley Funeral Home on Thursday, June 30, 2016 at 2:00 p.m.
