Franziska Messenbrink

Franziska "Fanny" Messenbrink, age 81, of Atwater, died Saturday morning, October 15, at the Sunny View Senior Living Center in Atwater.



Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, October 21, at the United Methodist Church in Atwater. Interment will be at Oakside Cemetery. Visitation will be from 4-7 p.m. on Thursday, October 20, at the Peterson Brothers Atwater Funeral Home and will continue for one hour prior to the service the church on Friday. www.petersonbrothers.com



Franziska "Fanny" Messenbrink was born on September 9, 1935, in Munich, Germany, the daughter of Alois and Anna (Lang) Traut. After graduating from high school, Fanny worked for a music licensing company where she monitored all media to ensure any music played was properly paid for and there were no licensing infringements. In 1956, her life changed when she attended a birthday party for a young American soldier stationed in Germany named Charles Messenbrink. They soon fell in love and were united in marriage on December 13, 1957, at Saint Catherine's Catholic Church in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Chuck and his new bride moved to Atwater soon after and worked on the Messenbrink family farm for four years until they purchased it in 1961. Working side by side with her husband for 43 years, Fanny milked the cows and farmed the land every day, yet still managed to make dinner, maintain the family home and along with Chuck, raise their two children, David and Debra. Once both of the children graduated and left home, Fanny shifted her focus to helping her community and started working to help many of the local seniors. She cleaned, cooked and ran errands when needed.



She is survived by her son, David Messenbrink of Atwater; her daughter, Debra Lapre (and life partner, Anna) of Middletown, New Jersey; and her granddaughter, Hailey Messenbrink. She is also survived by her sister, Ria Nagl, and her nephews, Heinz Nagl and Peter Nagl, all residing in Germany.



She was preceded in death by her husband of 54 years, Charles Messenbrink; her parents and one brother, Alois Traut Jr.

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