Michael E. Braun Jr.

Michael E. Braun Jr. 63, of Belgrade, died Wednesday, August 14, 2019, at the St. Cloud Hospital. His Mass of Christian Burial will be 11:00 am Monday, August 19, 2019, at St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church in Belgrade.  Burial will be at the church cemetery.  A visitation will be held Sunday from 4-8:00 pm at St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church in Belgrade and continue one hour prior to the service at the church.  Parish prayers will be prayed Sunday at 3:45 followed by a Knights of Columbus Rosary both at St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church in Belgrade.  Services are entrusted to Johnson Funeral Home in Belgrade.   

Michael E. Braun Jr. (Mickey), 63, of Belgrade died peacefully in the early hours of August 14th at St. Cloud Hospital, surrounded by his family. He suffered from a terminal brain tumor that advanced quickly. Only a few weeks ago, Mickey was working at the Prairie View Golf Course, attending a family reunion at Lake Koronis, riding in a speedboat, hiking with his son, grandson, and dogs at the Sunburg Hills, visiting Lake Minnewaska, and watching his grandson play baseball. He was able to live his life fully up to the very end

Mickey was an adventurer who inspired and touched everyone he knew through his passion for life. He was kind, strong, caring, and witty, often telling Ole and Lena jokes that made everyone laugh. Born on April 24, 1956, in Paynesville to Michael and Gladys Braun, he was the fourth of five children. They lived on a dairy farm where Mickey learned how to farm from the very best. He attended Crosier Catholic School and graduated from Belgrade High School in 1974. Mickey married his high school sweetheart Carolyn Isabel Warren at Zion Lutheran Church in Sauk Centre on May 28th, 1976. They were married for 43 years and built a family of five children, 11 grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.

They purchased a dairy farm in 1980 near Padua, MN to raise their family and improve the farm. Together they built a new house and turned it into a  picture-postcard farm. After 29 years on the farm, Mickey retired from dairy farming and moved to Belgrade. He drove a milk truck until he joined Prairie View Community Golf Course as a manager in 2010, where we worked until recently, taking good care of the golf course for nine years. The golf course helped him stay close to the community and golfing, both of which he loved. He was active in his church at St. Francis DeSales in Belgrade and served on a mission trip in Guatemala.

Mickey was very active in his community and a sports enthusiast, running marathons, biking, and ice fishing. He went on many hunting trips with his friends, brothers, sons and daughters, grandchildren, and nephews. He loved his dogs Britta and Gunny who were skilled at retrieving pheasants and often took them on hunting trips. Mickey loved to talk about his grandchildren. He read to them, carried them on his shoulders, showed them how to bait a hook, play cards, and steer a boat.

Mickey is preceded in death by his mother Gladys Braun nee Nietfeld and his granddaughter Delaney. He is survived by his wife Carolyn (Curly) nee Warren of Belgrade; his father Michael W. Braun Sr. of Paynesville, MN; his children Tony and Jenny Braun of Zimmerman, MN, Shelly and Eric Lottman of Kerkhoven, MN, Joel and Sabrina Braun of Shady Side, MD, Sarah Griesse of Tyler, MN, and Adam and Sarah Braun of Wellington, CO; his grandchildren Lecora, Teagan, Wylee, Quinn, Kiley, Sean, Seneca, Everett, Henry, and Eleanor; his great-granddaughter Laßyla; his sister Cathy Kohlmeier and brothers John, Phil, and Greg Braun. He has shown everyone how to live life and his memory will be alive in everything we do.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Michael E. Braun Jr., please visit our floral store.