Obit: Breseman, Vivian (1918 - 2012)

Contact: Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon
E-mail: dolores@wiclarkcountyhistory.org

Surnames: Breseman, Gluck, Macklin, Rivas, Dichev

----Source: Clark County Press (Neillsville, Clark Co., WI) 7/25/2012

Breseman, Vivian (24 April 1918 - 12 July 2012)

Vivian Gluck Breseman, 94, passed away Thursday, July 12, 2012. And for a few precious moments, the world stopped turning, and the universe bowed in respect to honor a woman who knew that if she placed Jesus Christ, her Lord and Savior first, that all else would fall into place and be good. And so it was.

Viv was born in Granton April 24, 1918. She loved reminiscing about growing up on a farm in central Wisconsin with her sisters Lucille and Irene and her brother Leonard. She was a self-described tomboy who loved catching frogs, swimming, fishing and riding horses. She adored and missed her mother, until she too was quite elderly. She respected her father’s perseverance and work ethic, which made it possible for her family to survive during some terrible times in this country’s history.

Despite it being The Great Depression, her parents made sure she was able to attend college. She graduated from Wartburg College in Iowa. She was a Homecoming Queen and was listed in the “Who’s Who in Small American Colleges.” She earned the title of the “The Black Queen” at Wartburg. You see, it was the Depression, and not wanting to ask her parents for money for a new and expensive and very typically white homecoming queen dress, she took a dress that she already had, a black dress, put her degree in home economics to use. She redesigned the dress, made some elegant changes and wore that dress to the homecoming celebration. With everyone else in white, she made quite the statement in her black gown. And no one was the wiser.

She married “The boy next door” back in central Wisconsin, Al Breseman, May 16, 1942, in Nebraska. They managed Al’s family cheese factory in Granton and spent their first years of married life at that factory. Life revolved around being a cheese maker’s wife and being the mother of four children. After selling the cheese factory, they moved to Chilton and, from there, to Monona, a suburb of Madison. Al was employed by the State of Wisconsin department of Agriculture as a super visor of the state’s cheese and butter grading and inspection, and Viv worked at the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus library as acquisitions/cataloging librarian.

While the children were growing up, she and Al took many camping trips all over the continental United Sates in a-two-tone 50-something Ford station wagon, a tent and later a Shasta trailer with four kids, three meals a day and a Coleman stove. After Viv and Al retired, they hit the road in a motor home and again saw the beauty and majesty of America up close and personal. Viv and Al became world travelers, going to 44 countries, including Antarctica when they were in their 70s. They viewed the Andes Mountains in Ecuador from the top of a train with their daughter Barb and son Bill.

Viv was an excellent cook and baker. She entered a recipe contest sponsored by the Lakeland Ledger in which she took first place for her Bavarian Apple Tort. Her Poppyseed Kuchen, a recipe that was her mother’s, remains a family favorite.

Her greatest love, and what she was most proud of, was her family. She was a woman ahead of her time - a woman who understood how to balance work and family (and with humor). And laugh she did, with gratitude for all the blessings bestowed on her.

She was a member of Grace Lutheran Church in Lakeland, FL.

She is survived by her four children, daughter Barbara (Deb) Breseman, Milwaukee; son William Breseman, Lakeland, FL; daughter Bonnie Macklin (Mack) of Maryland and their children, Lori (Kirk) Macklin, Dana (Doug) Rivas and Kari (Deyan) Dichev; son Bradley (Kay) of Florida and their son Brian (Sarah).

She was preceded in death by her husband of 68 years, Al Breseman.

Those wishing to leave a memorial may send it to Zion Lutheran Church, W2840 Hill Road, Granton, WI 54436