Joseph Brinkman

Joseph Augustus Brinkman, 90, passed away on the evening of November 20, 2017, at the Windsor Place facility in Coffeyville, Kansas. Joe had been suffering from complications caused by diabetes for the past year robbing him of his ability to tend to his farm and the wildlife that coexisted with his crops.

Joe was born on a farm, July 30, 1927, the fifth of 8 children born to Aloysius and Rosa Mary Brinkman in Coffeyville, Kansas. Joe and his younger brother Frank were drafted on the same day in 1951 but were sent to separate service assignments. Joe's brother was sent to Korea while Joe was sent to (occupied) Germany where he served as Private E-1 in A Battery 95 of the Austrian Artillery Unit as an Ordinance Man. Joe received the Army Occupation Medal (Germany). After completing his service obligations, Joe returned to the Oklahoma farm and resumed farming with his family.

On May 18, 1973, Joe married Wilma Jean Sutton at the Holy Name Catholic Church in Coffeyville, Kansas. They attended Holy Name together until Wilma died in 2009. Joe continued to worship as a lifelong member of Holy Name. Joe and Wilma filled their days with hard work, as they successfully maintained both family farms with Wilma also working at the Bliss Restaurant.
Joe loved to play cards and dominoes with his friends at the VFW and with his family around the kitchen table after all the work was done for the day. Joe was also a particularly talented marksman. He taught his nieces and nephews how to hunt and fish as well as how to farm. He was a big man with a big heart, big humor, and a lot of love for his extended family and friends. Joe loved nothing better than to catch you with a practical joke!

In later life, he enjoyed telling people their drill planting lines looked like a drunken snake going down through the field. He also enjoyed going to the Whistle Stop in Lenapah and Warriors Grocery in Delaware to eat breakfast, practice practical jokes and tell tall tales with some of his good friends. He will be remembered and missed by a host of practical jokers, tall tail tellers, ornery farmers, and people who actually loved him for his big heart.

Joe is survived by his younger sister, Teresa (Brinkman) Kemmerer (Floyd), with whom he has been farming for the past 15 years. Also surviving are Teresa's children, his nieces and nephews: Mike (V-Anne) Kemmerer; Phil (Shelley) Kemmerer, and Anna (Kemmerer)(Rex) Maloney and stepdaughter, LaUna Nolte, step grandson Chris Nolte (Myra), step great granddaughters Shantel and Chelsea. He also has a huge number of other nieces and nephews and great nieces and nephews.

Joe was preceded in death by 6 of his 7 siblings: Mary Catherine; Paul Theodore; Anne Louise; Rose Marie; Frank Nicholas; and John as well as one great nephew, Joshua Plunk.

Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Saturday, November 25, 2017 at Holy Name Catholic Church at 10:00am, with interment immediately following at Calvary Catholic Cemetery. Friends are invited to sign the register and greet the family on Friday, November 24, 2017 at Ford-Wulf-Bruns Chapel from 5:00pm to 7:00pm with the Rosary being prayed at 7:00pm. Military honors will be provided by Fort Riley Honor Guard and VFW Post 1022 and American Legion Post 20. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the charity of your choice: the American Diabetes Foundation or Holy Name Catholic School and they may be sent in care of the Chapel. To leave the family a message of condolence, please visit www.fordwulfbrunschapel.com

Visitation

Ford-Wulf-Bruns Chapel
2405 Woodland Ave
Coffeyville, KS  67337
Friday, November 24, 2017
6:00pm - 7:00pm

Service

Holy Name Catholic Church
406 Willow St
Coffeyville, KS  67337
Saturday, November 25, 2017
10:00am

Cemetery

Calvary Cemetery
Woodland Ave
Coffeyville, KS  67337

Memorial Contributions

Holy Name Catholic School
408 Old Willow Street
Coffeyville, KS  67337

American Diabetes Association
6600 S Yale Ave #700
Tulsa, OK  74136