Patricia Mae Brugger

Patricia Mae (Wethal) Brugger of McFarland, WI, died on October 3rd, 2024, from a long decline following pneumonia in February. She came in like a lion on March 20th, 1937, and roared her way through eighty-seven years. She was born to Anne (Johnson) Wethal and Melfred Wethal in Madison, Wisconsin, and spent her childhood babysitting her brothers and sisters and running with the east side kids. She always worked, and her happiest job as a teenager was working at Sunrise Resort in Presque Isle, Wisconsin, where she cleaned cabins and fish [KC1] and took care of the fawns on the deer farm. She graduated from East Side High School (Go Purgolders!) in 1955 and was always proud of her alma mater.

Pat believed in hard work and took pride in doing an excellent job every day. She began her career as a civilian employee of the Air Force at Truax Field. She moved to Milwaukee, following her then-husband, Merton Lendborg. She left the Air Force to join Zingen and Braun Insurance and later Palace Guard Insurance, where she ran the show behind the scenes as administrative assistant extraordinaire. Following a move back to Madison, she began work as a paralegal for the Wisconsin State Public Defender’s Office in Dane County, which she left for a job at the Legal Clinic (where she met her future husband, Sam Brugger). She then joined the Wisconsin Department of Justice where she spent most of her career, admired and respected for her impeccable work performance. 

She retired but was soon back at work to serve the Wisconsin Attorneys General, which she did for several years, then she retired once again. That retirement didn’t last, either, and she went back to work part-time for the Wisconsin Department of Corrections. She finally retired completely when she got tired of driving in the winter. Just a few days before her death, she said, “I need to get a job.” She loved to work, and she loved her co-workers.

She was also very active at Hope Lutheran Church, where she had been confirmed as a teenager. Going to Hope and seeing her friends was a highlight of her week. She loved reading, especially murder mysteries (the more dead bodies, the better); her little house on the river; digging up garden plants and moving them around (Sam said the bushes should be on wheels); and her family, which was her reason for being. 

Pat was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, Sam Brugger, and a sister, Barbara (Gene) Ehle, She is survived by her brothers Richard (Dawn) and Melfred “Lee” Wethal, her sister, Linda (Sherman “Joe”) Everson, her daughter, Kia Conrad and son-in-law Tom Conrad, whom she adored; her grandchildren, Eleanor Conrad (Eric Grycan) and Nicholas (Maggie) Conrad, for whom she took all the credit for raising; her absolute favorite, her great-grandson Isaiah, and numerous beloved nieces and nephews and their spouses and children, her in-law-family, Beth (Mike) English, Tim and Julie Conrad, and Kathy and John Riebau, and five complete sets of dishes, triple copies of every picture she ever took, and forty-three Christmas CDs, all with some version of Silent Night.

Special thanks to her brother Dickie, who was there when she needed him for jobs small and large.

Our eternal gratitude goes out to the staff of Agrace Hospice Care, who kept a loving eye on her for six months, the staff at Heritage (shout-out to 2EA!) who took care of her every need and her sass, and to all who loved her. Memorials will be donated to Madison East High School for students pursuing health careers. She always wanted to be a nurse.

A celebration of her life will be held in December at Hope Lutheran Church during her favorite time of year—shopping season.