Charlene Brunnemeyer was born May 25, 1925 in Rockford, IL to Kenneth and Winnetta Erickson. She passed quietly on June 7, 2021. Charlene married John (Jack) Brunnemeyer in 1944, who joined the United States Air Force which relocated them to Biloxi, MS and Sumter, SC before settling in Fort Smith, AR. Jack and Char were married 71 years before his passing in 2015.
Charlene was preceded in death by her brothers, Neil and Marshall Erickson, and great-grandson Kent Bullington. She is survived by her two sons, John Jr. of Fort Smith and Jeffrey and wife Trudy of Fort Smith; three granddaughters, Anne Roof of Raleigh, NC, Michelle Pierson of Jacksonville, FL and Angel Sanders of Fort Smith and three great grandchildren, Brooke Roof and Austin Roof of Raleigh, NC, and Will Sanders of Fort Smith.
Charlene was a beloved mother and grandmother and a devoted member of St. John’s Episcopal Church. In the early 1980s, Charlene taught English as a second language to refugees from Vietnam and Laos. An avid reader her whole life, she frequently visited the Fort Smith Public Library and was a proud member of the local “Knit-Wits” sewing club.
The family asks in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Fort Smith Public Library.
