Kurt A. Brownell

1957 - 2021

It is with great sadness that the family of Kurt Arthur Brownell announces his passing on June 22, 2021, at Hillview Healthcare Center in La Crosse, WI after a brief battle with glioblastoma. Kurt was born in Elgin, IL on Nov. 5, 1957, to Mary Ann (Feffer) Brownell & Arthur Franklin Brownell, Jr.

He graduated from Central High School in La Crosse in 1975. He earned his bachelor’s in wildlife management & biology from UW Stevens Point in 1980. His hometown was La Crosse, Wi. From there he travelled across the globe working as an environmental specialist & biologist. His last greatest love was working the position of Pollution Prevention, Sustainability, & Natural Resource manager   in Vicenza, Italy-starting Oct. 15, 2017- where he said he truly felt the community of Fimon was family & his colleagues were truly a team. During his time in Italy, Kurt also traveled to many places to include Kenya, Croatia, Montenegro, & Bosnia.

Kurt was called the Eul Gibbons of our family and nurtured that love through his friend and mentor, Neil Vetter, who educated him about the land and its habitants. He enjoyed singing in his church choir, participating in the Birkebeiner races, biking, coin & beer can collecting, bird watching, traveling, kayaking, camping, playing piano, gardening, canning his produce & herbs, and using his language skills, having spoken five different languages. He also loved going to the family cabin in Perkinstown, WI that our paternal grandparents built in 1964. While there, he would enjoy time with family, the Vetters, and others while also enjoying nature with his beloved dogs Raven, Blackie, and Tippy.

He married Connie Weedman on Aug. 4, 1996, but they later divorced. They were blessed with a daughter, Alanna. He is also survived by his mother, Mary Ann Brownell, and his siblings: Kim (Gary) Thurk, Kris (Susan) Brownell, & Kraig (Kevin) Brownell, all of La Crosse, WI, Katie (Paul) Matl of Onalaska, WI, Kyle (Lia) Brownell of Maplewood, MN, and 14 nieces & nephews, 2 great-nephews, 1 great-niece, and many aunts, uncles & cousins.

He was preceded in death by his father, Arthur Jr., paternal grandparents, Arthur Sr. & Signe (Lano) Brownell, maternal grandparents, Irenus & Mary (Dunker) Feffer, and his three beloved dogs.

The family would like to thank Mayo in La Crosse and Rochester for their care during his journey with cancer, & Sparta transitional care, Hillview Healthcare Center, and Mayo hospice for his end-of-life journey. Thanks also to all who loved and supported Kurt via CaringBridge, Facebook, virtual visits, cards, and personal visits.                                                                                                      

 

Visitation will be from 5 pm-7 pm on Wednesday, June 30th at Schumacher-Kish Funeral Home: 200 West Ave, La Crosse, WI 54601. A Mass of Christian burial will be held at 10:30 on Thursday, July 1 at St. Patrick Catholic Church: 319 Main St., Sparta, WI. Visitation with family will be in the Parish Center 2-1/2 hours before the service with a viewing one hour before. Kurt will be buried in Perkinstown, WI cemetery after the Mass.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             From his Facebook page: I have worked as a professional biologist since college, devoting my life to studying & protecting our natural resources & helping to make the world more sustainable. I love to travel, take photos, & explore new languages & cultures. Living in Europe has been one of the best experiences of my life thus far.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             Favorite citation: “Acts of creation are ordinarily reserved for Gods & poets, but humble folk may circumvent this restriction if they know how. To plant a pine, for example, one need be neither God nor poet; one need only own a shovel. By virtue of this curious loophole in rules, any clodhopper may say: Let there be a tree -and there will be one. If his back be strong & his shovel sharp, there may eventually be ten thousand. And in the seventh year he may lean upon his shovel, & look upon his trees, & find them good.” Aldo Leopold 

Memorials are preferred to Wisconsin Chapter of the Nature Conservancy for its charitable purposes, Mississippi Valley Conservancy, for its charitable purposes, St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Sparta or Kurt's Parish in Italy.