Joseph Herman Brinkman

Joseph Herman Brinkman, 95, of Molalla, Died November 19, 2011 in Molalla, Oregon. He was born in Farming, Minnesota on July 29, 1916 to John and Bernadina Brinkman. They lived on the 100 acre family homestead which grew to a 400 acre farm and is still farmed today by a nephew. Throughout his entire life Joe had a deep love for farming; He worked beside his dad and brothers and at the age of 15 milked the neighbors’ 16 cows for 50 cents a day. In 1936, after his mother’s death, he took a Greyhound bus to Idaho and connected with a cousin who together cleared 800 acres of sagebrush and planted a variety of crops including potatoes and sugar beets. In 1941, Joe was working for the Benedictine Nuns in Mt. Angel, Oregon running their dairy. He met Mary Gladys Blem and the couple was married on June 10, 1942 at St. Mary’s Church. In 1945, Joe became the head herdsmen at Mt. Angel Abbey. Joe and Mary bought their first Farm in Brooks and Joe worked at the Seed Company; during this time his dairy herd grew in size. In 1956, the family moved to a 50 acre dairy farm in Molalla where he retired after giving the reins to his son. Joe and Mary had a great joy for fishing all around the state and spent many summers with his 9 siblings in Minnesota before Mary died of cancer in 1980. In 1981, Joe married Marry Katharine Haevers and they lived at her Salem home for 25 years. She died in 2010 of Alzheimer’s. Joe was preceded in death by his parents, his wife of 38 years Mary G., 4 brothers and 5 sisters and their spouses, a daughter Bonnie who died at birth, and two great grandsons Matthew Todd and Andrew Kyle Potter, and his wife of 29 years Mary K. Joe is survived by his four children: Linda and Bob Johnson of Goldendale, Washington, Mike and Christy Brinkman of Molalla, Patty and Bill Gottsacker of Manzanita, and Debbie and Lynn Lantz of Molalla; 13 grandchildren, 11 great-grandchildren, and 60 nieces and nephews. Molalla Funeral Chapel is entrusted with the arrangements. Mass will be said at St. James Church on Friday, November 25 at 10 am and burial will be at Mt. Angel Calvary Cemetery at 1:30 pm on that same day. Family is encouraged to provide an obituary or information that allows for an obituary to be written by our staff