Obituary of Nannie Lee Briesemeister

Nannie Lee Briesemeister passed away on April 8, 2024 at Fairview Ridges Hospital in Burnsville, MN.

Nan was born in 1931, in Richland County, South Carolina and raised by her adoptive mother, Modena Windham. Nan and her mother lived in Lamar, South Carolina and moved to the Charleston area during WWII, where Nan found work to support them. During that time a young sailor danced into her heart. Nan and Norman Briesemeister were wed in Charleston at St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church on New Year’s Eve, 1946.

Nan and Norman were married for sixty-seven years and raised six children, three girls and three boys. Their life together brought them from east coast to west coast while Norman served in the Navy, to a small farm in Pine City, Minnesota, and later years to Pascagoula, Mississippi. Norman passed away in 2013. In 2015 Nan married Guido Kauls and they enjoyed life in Minneapolis together until her passing.

Nannie Lee was an amazing story: from her early life during the depression to life as a military spouse and mother of six, to farm wife, and later as a realtor in both Minnesota and Mississippi. Nan had very little formal education but a brilliant mind. She learned braille to do volunteer work even while raising her family. As a realtor in Mississippi, she earned a reputation as a warm hearted and caring friend.

Nan was always a positive, selfless, and generous person. She was loved by everyone who had the good fortune to know her and was the matriarch for a large extended family. Nan is also preceded in death by her daughter in law, Colleen Briesemeister, and son-in-laws James Behm and John Cepeda. Nan is survived by her husband, Guido Kauls; her children: sons, Edward (Gwen), John (Sophie), and Alan (Cindy); daughters, Katherine Behm, Karen (John Onken), and Kaye Cepeda; and she tended to twenty-one grandchildren and thirty-four great grandchildren.

Nan’s Memorial Service will be May 18 at 3 p.m. at St. Peders Lutheran Church, 4600 E. 42nd St., Minneapolis with a luncheon to follow. The service will be live streamed through YouTube/ St. Peders Lutheran Church.

Memorials preferred to the Salvation Army or Smile Train.