Joanne Kay Bremer (Haugen), 84, of Waubun, Minnesota, died peacefully on January 25 after battling kidney cancer. “Jo” was a loving wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother who attended any volleyball match, choir concert, graduation, or birthday party she could  - near or far. She was fiercely independent, traveling the world with friends and family, always up for an adventure. As a social worker at Lutheran Social Services in Moorhead, MN, she worked with their Korean adoption program in the 1980s. Joanne told stories of caring for a plane full of babies flying to Minnesota to meet their adoptive parents. In her spare time, she was a skilled fabric artist who made beautiful quilts, purses, and beaded jewelry.

After retirement, Joanne and her husband, Brad (died 2020) spent summers at the cabin they built together on Tulaby Lake in Waubun, MN.  She enjoyed her Book Club, Gourmet Club, Mahjong group, football Sundays and a good game of RummiKub.  She escaped the cold each winter in Tucson, Arizona at Rincon Resort. She had many friends there and until a bad knee slowed her down, loved to hike in the mountains. She was never without a book to read. Always up for something new, Joanne recently learned to play the Ukelele and joined a group of strummers whose rendition of “Rockin’ Robin” was a real crowd pleaser.

Though no one will ever bake Kringlas as good as hers, we will do our best each Christmas to recreate Joanne’s signature treat to honor her memory.

She will be greatly missed by her family, including three sons, Clark (Mia), Grant (Julie), Joel (Karen), seven grandchildren: Ericka, Madeline, Avery, Finn, Maggie, Drew (Kristin) and Collin (Malissa) and four great-grandchildren, Aurora, Azure, Charlotte and Emilia. She will be remembered by her many nieces and nephews.

The family will hold a private celebration of Joanne’s life at her cabin this summer.