Details

Collection Summary
Collection: FND001 - SHSND Foundation - North Dakota Heritage Family Memorial Program
Series: Tribute
Folder: DIG
Item: 271969
Title: Eugene "Junior" Braunberger, Jr.
Date: 1958-1/2021
Creator:
Inscription/Marks: 1958
Summary: Eugene “Junior” Braunberger Jr, of Medora ND, at home with family by his side, entered eternal life on January 14th 2021, freeing him from his battle with cancer at 63. Jr was born on the iron range in Virginia, MN. His family settled in Medora where he attended grade school, and his roots remained and grew more deeply in the Badlands all his life. After high school (Belfield Class of ‘76), he went to Missoula, MT where he finished trade school and worked as a mechanic. In 1980 he married Peg Lazerenko (m. 25 years) and in Medora they raised two sons, Jason and Eric, ran Geno’s gas station for years, and afterward owned Burning Hills Antiques and Gift Shop. Always industrious, Jr started a remodeling company that evolved and grew until it led him to custom home building; a trade he ultimately continued. In 2010 he answered a phone call for a remodel quote, it turned out he and the prospective client shared many interests; after a daring dinner invitation and silly eMail, he and MaryEllen began their lasting romance, were later engaged, and were inseparable for the rest of his life. Jr obviously never read a pamphlet called “How To Be Boring”, which forbids falling madly in love, traveling the country in a giant RV, shirtless boating and jet skiing, building your own villa in your hometown, drinking fancy whiskey and craft beers, 4wheeling the mountains and deserts, zip lining in tropical jungles, wrangling exotic birds, or back alley bar hopping in Dublin and Amsterdam. Of course, he did all of those things and more with passion. Jr was an adept outdoorsman, sportsman, and craftsman as well as a fanatic for music, antiques, and adventure. He was inventive and visionary, seeing the potential for something artistic and useful in a pile of scrap metal and barn wood and then making it. The villa in Medora is a masterwork of that creativity. He was a home builder and a taskmaster with little patience for bad work, walls that weren’t plumb and level, joints that weren’t square and true, or finishes that were sloppy. He also built a life and a legacy. Now, the job is done and we can evaluate the work. We want him to know the work is good. The walls are plumb and level, the joints are square and true, the finishes are beautiful. Truly what we would expect from Jr, we are grateful & will cherish it until we see him again. He is survived by fiancée MaryEllen Logan (Belfield, ND); sons - Jason (Hawaii), Eric and fiancée Alycia (Miles City, MT); sisters - Cindi Evans (Worcester MA), Kelly Guerin (Glendale, AZ), Roxy Morgan and husband Bob (Grand Forks, ND), their families; and grandsons - Lucas and Talon.
Red ID: FND_I_79464 Image ID: 546555 Image Notes: FND001 271969

Collection: FND001 Digitized Images from Collection
Title: SHSND Foundation - North Dakota Heritage Family Memorial Program
Date: -

Summary: The North Dakota Heritage Family Memorial Program is sponsored by the North Dakota Funeral Directors Association. The life stories of deceased North Dakotans are featured in an archvied collection. Current partners in the project are Eastgate Funeral & Cremation Services, Bismarck Evans Funeral Homes, Carrington and New Rockford Everson-Coughlin Funeral Home, Williston Fulkerson Funeral Home, Tioga Fulkerson Funeral Home, Watford City Fulkerson Stevenson Funeral Home, Williston Nero Funeral Home, Bottineau Parkway Funeral Service, Bismarck Springan Stevenson Funeral Home, Stanley Stevenson Funeral Home, Dickinson These funeral homes provide recent obituaries to the Foundation, where staff and volunteers format, edit and archive each memorial. The memorials are posted, and copies are sent to the family for their input and approval. The listing currently features more than 13,000 memorials, and is constantly updated as new memorials and histories are received.

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