for 10 years at the Aase Haugen Home 4 miles west of Decorah on Highway 9.

After they moved to Decorah, Carl worked as a barber. On 6 Oct 1971 Carl had a severe heart attack. His heart stopped 3 times, but it was not God's will for him to die at that time. Carl lived for 10 1/2 years after his heart attack, but he was not a candidate for surgery and was told not to work.

Carla Lee and Bruce were in their 4th and 2nd years respectively in college when Carl had his heart attack. Lillian continued working until Charlene (their youngest) started college. The doctors at the Mayo Clinic then recommended Carl not be left alone, so Lillian quit work to stay home with Carl. Carl and Lillian had many good years together before he died of another heart attack 17 Jun 1981. Carl is buried at the Norwegian Methodist Cemetery, Pleasant Twp.

Lillian continues to live in their home on North Street. In 1985 she spent 9 delightful months in Germany. She was able to see many sights in Germany and throughout Europe. At the time her son Rev. Bruce Brandenburg and his family were Baptist missionaries in Germany and her daughter Charlene was teaching at a school for the children of U.S. Army personnel stationed in Germany. At this time Lillian has 8 grandchildren - 7 grandsons and 1 granddaughter.

What is now known as the Grace Fellowship (Baptist) Church was started September 1959 in the basement of Carl and Lillian’s home on North Street. Carl and Rev. Lee Hutchinson, along with the other men of the church, built the church on Montgomery Street. Carl and Lillian always believed Decorah was a beautiful, wonderful place to live and raise a family.

Brandenburg, Charlene

(Charlene Brandenburg)

Charlene Bernice Brandenburg was born  at the Methodist Kahler Hospital in Rochester, MN. She is the youngest of the 5 children of Carl and Lillian (Wise) Brandenburg. Charlene was born by caesarean section. She was 1 month premature and had hyaline membrane disease. Despite the odds, Charlene lived.

When Charlene was about a year old, the family moved to Decorah from a farm near the Minnesota-lowa border (nearest town Spring Grove, MN). She enjoyed growing up in Decorah with her family and friends. Charlene graduated from Thomas Roberts Senior High School in 1975. She attended Pillsbury Baptist Bible College in Owatonna, MN for 3 years and then transferred to Mankato State University in Mankato, MN where she received a B.S. in Elementary Education with a minor in Special Education in March 1981.

While in high school and college Charlene had a number of jobs plus working in nursing homes for 4 years as a nurses aide. Before graduating Charlene started teaching at Fairbault State Hospital. In 1882 while still working at the State Hospital, Charlene and her sister Beth (whom she lived with) moved to Burnsville, MN. In 1983 Charlene was laid off from her teaching job at Fairbault State Hospital. She then went to work at K-Mart in Shakopee, MN. Later that year Beth got married and Charlene moved to Tulsa, OK. She continued working for K-Mart in Tulsa.

Charlene Brandenburg Armstrong, MS, 1995-1996 SY

After a year in Tulsa, Charlene visited her brother Bruce and his family in Penzburg, Germany. She had originally planned to stay 3 months, but got a job as a substitute teacher at the American Elementary School in Bad Tolz, Germany. Later she got a job as a Special Education teacher at Augsburg American High School. Charlene lived in Germany for a total of 21 months. Whenever she had the opportunity, Charlene traveled. The starting point of most of her trips was Munich, Germany. Charlene especially loved Florence, Italy and returned several times. She also visited Rome, Genova (Italy), Nice, the French Riviera, Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Seville and Lisbon, Portugal. Lisbon had just had a major overthrow of the government before Charlene visited. From Lisbon Charlene took the train to Madrid, Spain. Afterwards she was told people on that train often were gassed and had their passports and money stolen. Charlene was glad she heard this story the day after her train trip rather than the day before. Her return trip took her back through the French Riviera to Torino and Milano, Italy and finally back to Germany. It was a wonderful trip, but by the end she had seen so many churches, museums, and statues they all started to look alike. Other trips included Salzburg, Austria; Paris, France; Berlin, Germany. In Berlin Charlene saw the Brandenburg Gate in 1986. She returned to Berlin Dec 1989 to chip her own “piece of freedom” when the Berlin Wall came down. Charlene also visited Luzern, Switzerland; London; and Vienna.

In 1986 Charlene returned to the United States. She moved to Miles City, MT where her sister Carla and her