Hale W. "Pappy" Bremer
Hale William Bremer came charging into this world on June 18, 1934, and he didn't stop charging for the next 80 years until God called him Home on October 6, 2014.

Hale was anything but ordinary. Filled with insatiable curiosity, he attacked life, extracting excitement from every possible moment. He relished new experiences, but was always faithful to his favorite routines such as reading the newspaper and taking early-morning walks in his yard. He also loved connecting with cherished friends via phone or, better yet, a face-to-face game of cards. But, above all, he was energized by his family: his wife of 57 years, Diane; his children Nate, Carrie and Claire and their spouses Kim, Charlie and Ben; and his grandchildren Emma (25), Sam (25), Maddie (23), Ethan (22), Emily (18), Olivia (16) and Charlie (16).

Hale called himself lucky and now that he's gone, we feel all the luckier for having known him, our beloved "Pappy."

Hale was born to Roy and Alice (nee Peck) Bremer in the tiny burg of Brandon, Wisconsin, during the depths of the Great Depression. The delivery room: His parent's kitchen table. The doctor's payment: fish and garden produce. Hale was the youngest of three children; "little bro" to big sisters Barbara and Karey.

Hale's boyhood was all Americana – fodder for a Norman Rockwell painting. He loved all the things most young boys do: camping, fishing, hiking, shooting BB guns, chasing freight trains and catching frogs. He was a Boy Scout and attended all the meetings with his father who was Scout Master. He had every kind of pet, including dogs, ducks, pigeons, chickens, snakes and even a skunk he paraded around on a leash. In high school, he was a dynamo on wooden-wheeled roller skates and was elected prom king.

Following high school, Hale got wanderlust, joined the U.S. Navy and was shipped off to Japan. There, he worked inside a cave as a radio operator, receiving and decoding top-secret transmissions during the Korean War. It was plum assignment; one he earned through his strong command of the English language and lightning-fast typing skills. After four years he was honorably discharged and married the blue-eyed girl he met at a bar. (As Hale's mother once said, "Not everyone can meet in church.") Hale and Diane were married in Peshtigo's United Methodist Church on November 30, 1957.

The G.I. Bill funded Hale's higher education. He started college at the University of Wisconsin extension in Marinette. Diane put food on their table teaching kindergarten. A year later, the young couple relocated to Middleton, near Madison, where Diane continued to teach while Hale completed his B.S. in education from UW-Madison. Some years later, with kids underfoot, Hale earned master's degrees in Curriculum & Instruction and Reading from UW-Milwaukee.

As the years passed, the happy swirl of life enveloped Hale and Diane. They welcomed three children. They set up residence in a century-old house in Cedarburg (which, at one time, included an unwelcome woodchuck living under the front porch). They filled their home with antiques and treasures from their many travels. They built teaching careers that touched thousands of children's lives.

Diane taught elementary school in the Mequon-Thiensville School District. Hale launched his career in the Mequon-Thiensville School District as a middle school Language Arts teacher. Later he transferred to the Glendale School District where he eventually became a Multi-Media Specialist. He culminated his career in Germantown where he worked as Director of Curriculum & Instruction for many years.

Always family-focused, Hale and Diane traveled with their children during school breaks, introducing them to the wonders of our world. Campers to the core, they pulled Jayco pop-ups and travel trailers all across the United States, into Canada (all the way to Newfoundland) and deep into Mexico (through Mexico City and nearly to the Guatemala border).

In retirement, their passion for travel continued. They visited China, Europe, Costa Rica (three times), the Carribbean (four times) and Hawaii (four times). But their favorite destination always remained the wild and woolly Outer Banks of North Carolina – specifically Cape Hatteras and Ocracoke Island. They traveled there many times with their children and grandchildren. Hale delighted in introducing each grandchild to the ocean atop his belly. As they grandkids grew, he taught them to catch ghost crabs and make seashell wind chimes and wall hangings.

During their retirement, while living in Florida, Hale and Diane developed an ecology road show which they took to dozens of schools in the Sunshine State. The star of the show was Hale's creation, Lefty the Loggerhead Turtle, an endearing sea turtle who injured his flipper in a shrimp net. Thanks to a kind-hearted beachcomber, Lefty was rescued from certain death, fitted with a prosthesis at an animal hospital in the Florida Keys and, sometime later, returned to his natural habitat. Hale even wrote and self-published a children's book about Lefty – a work his family proudly shares with anyone who asks.

Speaking as Hale's family …
Each and every one of us has our own special memories of Pappy. On any given day, we can see him digging in his garden; crafting something in the basement (or on the kitchen table or in the garage); reading a book in the comfort of his easy chair; searching for "that special find" at Maxwell Street Days; driving entirely too fast; cooking up a Chinese concoction for Sunday supper or oyster stew for Christmas repast; collecting orchids and bromeliads from greenhouses and treetops; watching Wolf Blitzer and Anderson Cooper on CNN (yet again!); playing dominoes or find the jelly bean; grooving to Neil Sedaka or crooning to Jim Croce; "puddling" with the grandkids at the cottage; listening intently to our problems and soliciting advice; initiating puns and verbal repartee (a family tradition!); typing an article for publication on his Smith-Corona Coronamatic; backing up the trailer (aka gypsy castle) into a giant pile of poo in Mexico; wearing his hand-knitted beanie hat; carving a sea captain or Santa; taking an afternoon nap on the couch; inventing games; and last, but not least, loving us for no other reason than we're his own flesh and blood.

Rest in peace, Pappy. We know Heaven is happier, Pappier place now.
Per his request, our family will commemorate Pappy's life in a private celebration in Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, this coming summer.

In lieu of flowers, we ask you to consider a donation to the Alzheimer's Association at www.alz.org.