St. Joseph
January 6, 1938 – June 8, 2025
Mass of Christian Burial will be 11:00 a.m. on Friday, June 20, 2025, at St. Joseph Catholic Church, St. Joseph, MN for Harold J. Brinkman, age 87, who died June 8, 2025, at Benedictine Assumption Home in Cold Spring, MN. Burial will be in St. Catherine’s Cemetery in Farming, MN.
The visitation will be from 9:00-10:30 a.m. Friday at Heritage Hall, St. Joseph Church, St. Joseph, MN.
Harold attended Farming Elementary School District #106, served Mass at St. Catherine’s Church under Father Adelbert, and graduated from Albany High School in 1956. At that time, many farm boys didn’t attend high school, but Harold’s mother, Verena, a widow running a 200-acre dairy farm with help from her children, especially Harold, told him it was mandatory. To his delight, she also encouraged him to participate in football, which created in him a lifelong love of the sport, particularly the Vikings.
At age 16, he told his mother that if she bought electric milking Equipment for him, he would take care of the dairy chores, and she would never have to hand-milk another cow. She did. Upon graduating from high school, he took over the family farm, with his mother serving as the manager.
Harold joined the National Guard in 1959, training at Fort Leonard, MO, and Fort Knox, KY. He was honorably discharged in 1965.
In 1959, he met his future bride, Marilyn Salzl, at her cousin’s wedding in Farming, Harold’s neighbor. They married in 1962 in St. Martin. Their children, Nancy, Brian, and Karen, soon arrived. The children were the light of his life. He taught them the value of hard work, dedication to the values he was brought up with, the value of a good education, and he recommended that they travel.
Harold was a proud dairy farmer until 1999, when he and Marilyn sold the family farm and moved to Kraemer Lake in St. Joseph Township. Although he left farming, he never lost his love of farm life. He often remarked that he sensed God and religion most when he plowed and worked the same fields as his father and grandfather. He was happiest when he was working, and he could fix almost anything.
Upon leaving the farm, he took a job at Rich-Spring Golf course, first as assistant superintendent, eventually cutting fairways. During those years, he also drove a school bus for four years and Executive Express for two years. He retired from the golf course at age 84.
The Catholic religion was an important part of his upbringing. He maintained a special devotion to Saint Joseph—his middle name, his godfather’s name, his son’s middle name, his grandson Cory’s middle name, and his infant son’s name. In 2019 he and Marilyn moved to St. Joseph and belonged to St. Joseph’s parish.
Sports, too, were an important part of Harold’s life. He played baseball with the Farming township farm team, played softball, volleyball, bowled, golfed, and after leaving the farm, he took up walking, one to three miles a day until age 86.
When Harold realized that the children in Farming didn’t have any sports to keep them at home, he and his buddies started a softball park in Farming. Sod for the park was taken from his farm. When he realized that the young teenage boys weren’t included in the leagues, he started and coached a young team. They didn’t win many games in the first year but eventually beat the older teams that laughed at them that first year. The park remains a mainstay in Farming today.
Harold volunteered at St. Joseph’s Church, St. Benedict’s Monastery, RSVP, Stearns History Museum, and as an usher at the Paramount Theater for over 20 years. Carpentry was his hobby. He built furniture, toys, birdhouses, feeders, and more.
Harold and Marilyn traveled extensively over the years. Elderhostel trips (now called Road Scholar) were their favorites. They have many fond memories of those trips. They often laughed about some of their travel mistakes. One year, Marilyn booked a trip to Boston. This was when the Internet was new. Upon arrival at their hotel, they were informed that they had booked for the following year. The hotel happened to have a room available, and they were told to eat dinner at the Ritz nearby, their treat. They learned over and over that if you’re polite and pleasant, others will also be polite and pleasant.
In his 1956 high school yearbook, Harold was described as “Full of nature, nothing can tame; changed every moment—never the same.”
Harold leaves behind wife, Marilyn; children, Nancy, Brian (Jayne), and Karen (Lynn); grandchildren, Cory (Tara) Brinkman, Kari (Curt) Wyman, Tyler Rettig, Grant and William Gregory; step-great grandson, Isaiah; and his precious great granddaughter, Skylar; sisters Jan (Jack) Schmitz and Alice (Dick) Voit. Preceding him in death were his infant son, Joseph, his parents, brothers, B.J. and Tom; sisters Rita, Beatrice, and Edna.
Arrangements are with the Wenner Funeral Home, Cold Spring, MN.
