Bryan J. Fransen

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BRYAN JAY FRANSEN was born on April 20, 1955 to John and Velma (Cook) Fransen, Jr., in Pipestone, Minnesota. He grew up on the family farm in Edgerton as “the favorite” spoiled sibling. He milked cows every morning before school and participated in band, basketball and cross county. He also served on school patrol and attended Legionville camp. He was a great big brother and spent time chauffeuring his younger brother before he could drive. Bryan graduated from Edgerton Public School in 1973. He then attended Canby Vocational and Technical School where he studied Ag Business. He returned home to Edgerton and worked at Simplot in Hatfield, Minnesota. When he was living at home, his mom would wake up at midnight when he came home from work to fix him a meal – adding to his “favorite” status. On March 14, 1981, he married Darla Erickson at Bethany Lutheran Church in Luverne, Minnesota. The couple lived in Edgerton and then moved to an acreage outside of Luverne in 1987. They were later divorced. Bryan continued to reside on the acreage. He worked with Simplot for over twenty years before taking jobs with various other seed companies. He married Peggy Johnson on November 27, 2010 at the American Reformed Church in Luverne. The newlyweds made their home out on the acreage. Bryan retired from seed sales in 2018. He then began driving for community transit and enjoyed meeting new people and learning their stories. On Thursday, February 17, 2022, Bryan had a heart attack while at his home and was taken to the Sanford Luverne Hospital where he died at the age of 66 years, 9 months and 27 days.

Bryan was an active member of the American Reformed Church where he served as a Deacon and Elder. During most of the summer, you could find Bryan outside in his garden. He loved the process of planting, tending the garden and sharing his produce with family and friends. He liked to travel, go camping, do wine tastings and read. In the last several years, he began doing genealogy research and traced his family tree back through six generations. He also recently started studying the Spanish language. Above all else, Bryan was a devoted family man from the time he was a son and big brother to being a husband, father, grandfather, step-father and step-grandfather. He cherished time spent with all of his kids and grandkids.

Bryan is lovingly remembered by his wife Peggy Fransen of Luverne; children, Darren (Melissa) Fransen of Marshall, MN, Brent (Heather) Fransen of Winona, MN, Tyler (Peggy) Johnson of Luverne, Travis (Stephanie) Johnson of Sioux Falls, SD and Meghan Johnson of Sauk Centre, MN; siblings, Gene (Kaye) Fransen of Owatonna, MN, Karen (Bob) VanEssen of Edgerton, and Dean (Ardeth) Fransen of Edgerton; 14 grandchildren, Caiden, Cora, Addison, Asher, Eli, Isaac, Brendan, Shawn, Rayna, Clara, Connor, Camryn, Maci and Remy; and many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents.