Hays, Kansas – Alexia Brungardt, 95, died on Thursday, July 9, 2015, at Good Samaritan Society, Ellis.
She was born Dec. 22, 1919, on the farm east of Severin, to Alexander and Elizabeth (Haberkorn) Herman. Her paternal grandparents were Anton M. and Elizabeth (Dreiling) Herrman, who were among the first Volga German settlers of Victoria, having emigrated from Herzog, Russia. Her maternal grandparents were Johannes and Elizabetha (Huss) Haberkorn, who came to the United States from Marienfeld, Russia, and farmed north of Pfeifer for a number of years before returning to Russia.
Alexia was the youngest of 13 children. Five of her brothers died in infancy or early childhood. Her other seven siblings, who all preceded her in death, were Edward (married Sophia Schueler), Richard (married Anna Paulina Denning, and later Mildred Royer), Fidelis “Dale” (married Martha Smith), Maria Anna, Ralph (married Lorena Rupp), Wendelin (married Ann Louise Anderson), and Ludwig “Lou” (married Amerette Gilbert).
Alexia attended Lost Canyon Grade School, which was in the same section as her parents’ farm.
On Oct. 25, 1938, she married Lawrence Brungardt, son of John J. and Magdalena (Mermis) Brungardt, at Severin. Alexia and Lawrence started farming in the section southeast of Emmeram. Their main enterprises were beef cattle, laying hens, wheat, and sorghum. They attended Sacred Heart Catholic Church at Emmeram, and later The Basilica of St. Fidelis, in Victoria. She was a member of the Victoria Christian Mothers.
After Alexia and Lawrence’s children left home, Alexia worked for several years in the Housekeeping Department of St. John’s Rest Home in Victoria. After work she often visited with the residents, sometimes in the Volga German dialect she learned as a child, or ran errands for them. “I like old people,” she explained. “My parents were fairly old when I was born, and I’ve always enjoyed the company of old people.”
She also enjoyed young people tremendously, and liked to tell them stories about her life and heritage. She is fondly remembered by the many of her children’s friends, nieces and nephews, and grandchildren and great-grandchildren who stayed with her and Lawrence through the years. If she knew someone was coming to visit, their favorite pie or other food was always ready, awaiting their arrival.
Alexia and Lawrence retired from farming and moved to Hays in 1991, making their home on Hillcrest Drive and becoming members of St. Joseph Catholic Church. For the first time, Alexia was able to have an irrigated garden and she shared its bounty — tomatoes, cukes, Schwarzbeeren, garlic, asparagus, and other produce — with family, neighbors, and friends while Lawrence exercised his passion for drawing and painting.
Lawrence died on Sept. 1, 2003, and several years later Alexia moved to Sterling House Assisted Living in Hays, where she lived until early 2015.
Alexia is survived by three children: Margaret Schmidt-Carlson and her husband, Vance Carlson, of Hays; Samuel and his partner, Richard Greene, of St. Paul, Minn.; and Jacqueline “Jackie” Prickett, and her husband, Joe, of Wichita. Two sons, Lawrence “Bud” (married Martha Myrlene Castor) and Roy (married Janice Yosten), preceded Alexia in death.
The grandchildren who survive Alexia include: Margaret’s children – Robert Schmidt Jr., Shawnee Mission; Donald Schmidt and his partner, Cheryl Baldwin, Eudora; Lori (Schmidt) Huey, Dallas, Tex.; Jon Schmidt and his wife, Cindy, Leawood; Christa Leigh (Schmidt) Walter, Olney, Md.; and Melissa Schmidt, Hays. Bud’s daughters, Cindy Pottorff and her husband, Mike, Kalamazoo, Mich., and Amanda Oxenford, rural Gorham, and her husband, Jason, Hays. Roy’s children, Joy Alexia Brungardt, Kansas City, Mo., and Martin Brungardt and his wife, Kimberly, Liebenthal. Jackie’s children, Chrystal Tatum, Kansas City, Mo., and Scott Tatum and his wife, Sarah, Jacksonville, Fla.
Surviving great-grandchildren include Hannah (Schmidt) Brockway and her husband, Daniel, her sister, Erin Schmidt, and brother, Jakob Schmidt and his wife, Jessica; Isaac, William, and Andrew Schmidt; Grahm Huey; Neil Walter III; Patrick and Peter Pottorff; Christian and Alexia Oxenford; and Leora Janice Brungardt.
Services will be at 10:00 a.m. Monday, July 13, 2015, at St. Joseph Catholic Church, Hays, with burial afterward at Sacred Heart Cemetery, Emmeram.
A Victoria Christian Mothers rosary will be at 7:00 p.m. Sunday, followed by a vigil service at 7:30 p.m. Sunday both at cline’s Mortuary of Hays, 1919 East 22nd Street, Hays, Kansas 67601.
Visitation is from 4:00 to 9:00 p.m. Sunday, and from 8:30 to 9:45 a.m. Monday ,all at Cline’s Mortuary of Hays.
Memorials are suggested to the Sacred Heart Church Cemetery fund (in care of The Basilica of St. Fidelis, Victoria), Good Samaritan Society, Ellis; or to the charity of your choice.
