Virginia Brauer

Virginia "Ginger" Brauer, age 57, of rural Nisswa, MN, died Tuesday, June 5, 2001, at her home. A memorial service is scheduled for Friday, June 8th, at 1:30 PM, at the Lutheran Church of the Cross in Nisswa, with Reverend Len Anderson officiating. Friends may call an hour before the service at the church. Arrangements are with the Brenny Funeral Chapel in Brainerd/Baxter. Memorials are preferred to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation or the Lutheran Church of the Cross in Nisswa. Virginia "Ginger" Brauer was born on January 12, 1944, in Fargo, ND, to Norton and Mary Elizabeth "Beth" (Kyte) Hanson. She graduated from high school in Detroit Lakes, MN in 1961. On August 31, 1963, she married Warren Brauer in Detroit Lakes. She graduated from Moorhead State University in 1966. They lived in Fargo-Moorhead where she was a librarian at the elementary school. The couple moved to Brainerd in 1971 where she worked for School District 181 tutoring students at the Brainerd State Hospital. She worked with her husband beginning in 1976 at Stereo One/Computer One as the advertising manager, and she, with her husband and a partner, built and owned the Last Turn Saloon in Brainerd. In the last 12 years she was active with her husband running Brauer Commercial Real Estate. In addition to instructing aerobics in Brainerd, she was nominated for the Lakes Area Volunteer of the Year Award and was on the Board of Directors of Kinship Partners, where she served as president. She was one of the founders of the Brainerd Lakes Area Business and Professional Women. In July, 2000, the Brainerd Lakes Affiliate of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation established the Ginger Brauer Breast Cancer Support Award in her honor, of which she was the first recipient. Ginger is survived by her husband, Warren; one son, Jonathan David Brauer of Minneapolis, MN; one daughter, Lisa Marie Burke of Andover, MN; one brother, Jerry Hanson of Albuquerque, NM; and four grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents.