George W. Brighton

Reverend George W. Brighton, age 85, of Newell, Iowa, passed away Tuesday, April 28, 2009 at the Newell Good Samaritan Center. Services for Reverend Brighton will be held on Friday, May 1, 2009 at 10:30 a.m. at the United Methodist Church in Newell. Burial will be in the Newell Cemetery. The Fratzke & Jensen Funeral Home in Newell is in charge of the arrangements. Friends may call from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. on Thursday, April 30th at the Fratzke & Jensen Funeral Home in Newell, where the family will be present from 6:00 to 8:00. George Wayne Brighton was born February 22, 1924 in rural Leland, Iowa, the son of James and Rose (Baker) Brighton. His mother died when he was seven years old and his father died by the time George was 10 years old. He was then raised by his brother, Stanley, and his wife, Pheobe. He attended one semester of college at Waldorf College in Forest City after graduating from Leland High School in 1942. He volunteered for the Army in 1944 and was in the infantry in northern Germany during World War II. Upon his discharge from the Army in 1946, George traveled around Europe for eight months, which included attending Cambridge University in England for one term before returning home to attend college at Kendall College in Evanston, Illinois for two years. He then graduated from Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa in 1950. He graduated from Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois in 1952. George was then ordained as a United Methodist Minister and joined the Iowa Conference of the United Methodist Church. He served congregations in the following towns during his 35 years of ministry: Royal, Moneta, Everly, Varina, Albert City, Thornton, South Marion (rural Stratford), Stanhope, Kamrar, Klemme, Liberty (rural Klemme), Lake View, Wall Lake, Graettinger, Livermore and LuVerne. Following his retirement in 1987, he continued to serve as a fill-in minister for area churches, with a special relationship to the Varina Methodist Church. He married Norma Johnsen on April 20, 1958. They had three children, David, Marcia and Mark. When George retired, they moved to Normaâ€™s hometown of Newell. George was an avid gardener. He loved home improvement projects and occasionally kept chickens for the fun of it. He published two autobiographical books, Growing Up in Winnebago County and Tales of War. George was preceded in death by his parents, his stepmother, Grace Hill, nine brothers, James, Stanley, Willis, Thomas, Chester, Ralph, Melvin and two who died as children, Albert and John, two sisters, Alberta and Kathleen. He is survived by his wife, Norma, his children David and Becky Brighton of Fort Dodge, Marcia Brighton and Jeff Brebner of Newell, Mark and Amy Brighton of Hinton, his six grandchildren, Kolin Brighton of Cedar Rapids, Valerea Brebner of Fort Dodge, Katie Brighton of Cedar Rapids, Zachary Brebner of Newell, Laura Brighton and Kyle Brighton of Hinton, and two sisters Marjorie Wangen of Hayward, Minnesota and Beverly Nedved of Mason City and many nieces and nephews.

George W. Brighton

February 21, 1924 - April 28, 2009