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About
Brennen Bucholz Obituary
Brennen grew up near Chicago and began his education at Proviso West High School before graduating from Green Bay East High School. He went on to earn a degree in criminal justice from Triton College, laying the foundation for a career dedicated to public service.
A proud veteran of the United States Army, Brennen completed basic training at Fort Sill and was stationed at Pinder Barracks in Zirndorf, West Germany with the 1st Armored Division-"Old Ironsides." He volunteered for Operation Desert Storm and earned his combat patch after joining the 101st Airborne Division. Following his deployment to Iraq, he returned to Fort Sill where he completed training as a 13F Forward Observer. His Military Occupational Specialties included 13B Cannon Crew Member and 13F Forward Observer. Over the course of his military career, he served in the U.S. Army, Army Reserve, and Illinois National Guard. Brennen was deeply proud of his service and carried that pride with him always. Sadly, exposure to toxic burn pits during his deployment contributed significantly to the health issues he later faced.
After completing his military service, Brennen continued serving others through a two-decade-long career with the State of Wisconsin Department of Corrections. He spent most of those years at Waupun Correctional Institution where he was known for his dedication and professionalism.
Outside of work and service, Brennen found joy in many passions. He loved spending time with his dog and immersed himself in gaming-particularly World of Warcraft-where he proudly maintained every character at max level. As a young adult, he enjoyed comic books and reading widely across genres. A self-taught historian at heart, Brennen took great pride in knowing history and often shared that knowledge with those around him.
He is survived by his father Robert Bucholz; mother Diane Larsen; brothers Bill Trigg and Ian Larsen; as well as close friends Brett Lancour, Thomas Reese, Brent Phare, Amanda Simmons, and Dan Meehan.
Any celebration of life or military honors will be shared via Facebook or private message.
May Brennen's memory bring comfort to those who knew him and serve as a lasting tribute to a life marked by service, loyalty, and enduring passion.
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4 Entries
Thomas Reese
August 8, 2025
I met Brennen at work. He had a relief job in the building I was in. Every night after the work was done we'd play poker with my Sgt. Most nights we needed to bring at least 100 bucks to play. Brennen always called the same game. 7 card stud.
We joined a bowling league together, spent alot of nights playing chess or cribbage. I met Brandon Collisaco through him, he moved into his house and it didn't take long for all three of us to hang out, play cards or video games. For a short while all 3 of us worked at the same place. It made work bareable.
After Brandon died, I had a talk with Brennen. The one thing he made clear was that even besides his health issues, he wanted to live. I can't tell you how many nights we played Hearthstone, a card game on the computer from the minute I got home at 10pm, til 3 or 4 in the morning. It was years, 5 days a week. Now Brandon and Brennen are both gone and I am left wondering why. RIP Bud.
John & Kathy Gordon
July 15, 2025
I have regrets! I never had the honor of meeting Brennen face to face, we spent countless hours playing World of Warcraft, many times while on the phone. Brennen studied his players and played his characters very well "much better than myself". It was always refreshing conversing with Brennen with his calm voice and unique laugh. I never thought of his in game name of his main character (Dielm - Beast Mastery Hunter) or his guild name that he created (Is On Deaths Door), I never knew his background other than he was in military and had worked at a correctional institution. I was too caught up in the game to dig into his personal life, "now I'm very saddened that I had not looked at him closer" to get to know him better. It was unusual not to see Brennen online for a couple of days and sometimes we just said "Hey John" and I would say "Hey Brennen" and be good with that, oh how I regret not taking everyone of those moments and not taking full advantage of getting to know Brennen more. Knowing now what I had no idea of only recently through Tom Reese who out of all the friends in Brennen's Facebook friends that responded to my outreach to find out what happened to my dear friend Brennen (thank you Tom Reese). Brennen was very dedicated to World of Warcraft and I knew something big was going on when he was not online / in game for more than 3 days. I asked my wife to pray for Brennen with me. I found that Facebook will block you from messaging after you have messaged X amount of people in X amount of time "I still do not know the magic number" but I got blocked by Facebook for 72hrs of which I could no longer reach out, this hurt bad because no one would respond to my inquiry of Brennen's well being : ( Then Tom Reese responded, informing my Brennen had passed, my heart heavy reflecting back on all the missed opportunities I had and did not take to get to know Brennen better or maybe even be of assistance to him with real life issues I had no idea he had. Brennen was very humble, soft spoken, unique laugh, easy going, always always wanting to help me in game, he knew the game very well. With all this, Brennen has changed me, I will be taking more opportunities to get to know people better and see if I can be more like Brennen in the ways I mentioned above. Brennen was On Deaths Door and I never realized it, what a monumental overlook on my end. R.I.P. Brother Brennen I dearly miss our conversations : (
Amanda
July 11, 2025
When I moved to waupun I lucked out and got the best neighbor ever! And it turned out an amazing friend. Always so nice and kind, listening, and just the best friend I've had
Shane Salem
July 11, 2025
RIP Brother it was a pleasure to work along side you.
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