Rebecca Marie (Grote) Brand passed away on December 6, 2016, surrounded by her family, at the age of 39, after a long illness. Rebecca loved her family farm and the wild woods of northern Wisconsin. She passed away at the farm with her family.
Rebecca loved being a rancher and a rancher’s wife. She was living a rancher’s dream with her husband Ryan and son Rhett in Burbank, Okla., at the time of her death.
Rebecca was born in Manchester, Iowa, on December 5, 1977 to William and Nancy (Leib) Grote. Shortly after Rebecca was born, her family moved to a dairy farm in Wisconsin. She attended Medford Area Schools and graduated from UW River Falls with a degree in Agriculture Education. She did her student teaching In the spring of 2000, at Rushford – Peterson High School in Rushford, Minn.
Rebecca married her cowboy, Ryan Brand at Holy Rosary Catholic Church in Medford, Wis., on July 15, 2000. They ranched in Iowa, Nebraska, and finally made their home in Oklahoma. She taught middle school math in Iowa and Oklahoma for eight years. Rebecca loved the colorful sunsets of the Oklahoma prairie, nature, horsemanship, starting colts, her cats, dogs, and being a mom.
She is survived by her husband, Ryan and son, Rhett of Burbank, Okla.; her parents, William and Nancy Grote of Withee, Wis.; four siblings: Dawn Anderson (Greg) of Hawaii, David Grote and (Tom Jensen) of Iron River, Wis.; Millie Slabber (Richard) of Hudson, Wis.; and Jennifer Gebert (Jeremy) of Madison, Wis.; and her in-laws; Rick and Rhonda (Torgerson) Brand of Rushford; sisters-in-law Rachel Rivers (Nate) of Winona, Minn.; and Raeanna Tveten (Paul) of Lewiston, Minn.; and 15 nieces and nephews. Rebecca was preceded in death by her grandparents.
Rebecca was loved by so many, which was evident from her Facebook following of friends and family sending her prayers and well wishes. She fought cancer with every fiber of her being and never gave up. She was happy to be back in Wisconsin and have snow for her birthday.
There will be a funeral service at 11 a.m. on Monday, December 12, 2016, at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Hart, Minn., with the Rev. Harold Hintzman officiating. Visitation will be from 4-7 p.m. on Sunday at Hoff Funeral and Cremation Service in Rushford and one hour prior to the service on Monday at the church. Burial will be in the church cemetery.
A memorial service will be planned to celebrate her life at First Lutheran Church in Ponca City, Okla., within the next few weeks.
In lieu of flowers a memorial fund has been established for her son, Rhett at Merchants Bank in Rushford, Minn.
Leave a memory of Rebecca and sign her online guestbook at www.hofffuneral.com.
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