Donna Braband

Donna Lou Braband, age 97 of Glencoe, MN, and formerly of Cherokee, IA, passed away Monday, February 26, 2024, at Glenfields Living With Care Center in Glencoe, MN, surrounded by her family. Memorial services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, March 2, 2024, at Memorial Presbyterian Church in Cherokee, IA. Pastor Jay Braband will officiate. Burial will take place at Oak Hill Cemetery in Cherokee, IA. Visitation will be held one hour prior to the service at the church. The Greenwood-Schubert Funeral Home in Cherokee, IA is assisting the family with arrangements. Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.greenwoodfuneral.com.

Donna Lou (Kettleson) Braband was born August 17, 1926, on a farm near Estherville, IA. She was the youngest of the three children born to Glenn and Orpha Kettleson.  She graduated from Superior Consolidated School in 1944, and attended Cornell College, Mount Vernon, IA, and Iowa State Teachers College (now University of Northern Iowa). Donna met the love of her life while she worked at a cafe in Spirit Lake, IA. Bernard (Barney) Braband went to the cafe with two of his friends on his 21st birthday and noticed the cute waitress. (Donna later said she thought these two friends had arranged for the two of them to meet, but Barney said it was a chance meeting.  She said that she liked his sense of humor, his persistence, and “the fact that he liked me.”) They were married on May 28, 1948. Their first home was a quonset hut in Ames, while Barney attended Iowa Agricultural College (now Iowa State University).

Donna taught elementary school near Terril, IA and Lake Park, IA while Barney finished his degree. They lived in Primghar and Pomeroy, IA before moving to Ashton, IA in 1955, where they lived for 14 years. They were blessed with six children, Lynn, Jon, Kennard, Jay, Carol, and Laura. Donna taught Sunday school and served as a deaconess in the Presbyterian Church in Ashton. In 1969, the family moved to Cherokee, IA, where Donna worked as a teacher associate at Wilson Junior High School for 22 years. She was a faithful member of Memorial Presbyterian Church in Cherokee for over 50 years.

The family enjoyed camping trips to the Black Hills, Yellowstone, Canada, and the Pacific Northwest. The first forays were in a canvas tent and dad-made car top carrier, later in a fold-out camper. Donna fed everyone on the trips, never a restaurant, with lots of Spam, sandwiches, and Tang.

In 1992, Barney’s health required him to start renal dialysis. Since there was no facility nearby, a dialysis machine was installed in their home. Donna administered Barney’s dialysis treatment three times/week for two years. When a dialysis unit opened in Storm Lake, Donna drove Barney there for his treatments.  

Donna and Barney hosted family gatherings teeming with children, grandchildren and great grandchildren at Lake Okoboji every Memorial Day weekend, a tradition that has continued.

After Barney passed away in 1999, Donna cared for her aging neighbors, including making and delivering meals, buying groceries, and taking people to appointments. Donna moved to The Gardens Assisted Living at Cherokee in 2022, and to GlenFields Living with Care in Glencoe, MN in May 2023. 

On February 26, 2024, Donna shed her earthly pain into the arms of her Savior, surrounded by the love that she had nurtured throughout her life. She considered her main interests in life to be her family and her faith. She was a loving, selfless woman with a wry sense of humor and a strong faith in her Lord Jesus Christ. We will miss her warmth, her strength, her generous spirit, her sense of humor, and her rhubarb pie.  

Donna was preceded in death by her husband, Bernard Braband, her parents Glenn and Orpha (Wilson) Kettleson, brother Roger and Audrey (Smuck) Kettleson, and sister Ruth and Don Sunde, and brothers- and sisters-in-law Lucille and August (Jack) Horn, and James (Jim) and Loyce (Lamack) Braband.

Donna is survived by her children, Lynn (Jane) Braband of Rochester, NY, Jon (Jodi) Braband of Glencoe, MN, Kennard (Mary) Braband of Green Bay, WI, Jay (Barb) Braband of Johnston, IA, Carol (Brent) Meinecke of Mason City, IA, and Laura (Bryan) Lafleur of Cherokee, IA, sixteen grandchildren, Mary (Nick) Palhegyi, Elizabeth (Steve) Cullum, Joseph (Marcia) Braband, Joy (Brent) Macheel, Josh Braband, Tom (Apple) Braband, Jacey (Tim) Kufahl, Sam (Stacie) Braband, Ben (Carlie) Braband, Emily (Jon) Castelline, Clint (Elissa) Meinecke, Drew (Anna) Meinecke, Nathan (Aubrey) Lafleur, Andrew Lafleur, Dave Lafleur and Isaac (Natalie Roberts) Lafleur, 22 great grandchildren and many nieces, nephews and friends.  

The family thanks the staff of The Gardens Assisted Living at Cherokee and GlenFields Living with Care for their compassionate and professional care.