Bryan Arlyn Buchholz

Bryan Arlyn Buchholz, age 73, left this life on earth on Tuesday, October 21, 2025. The son of Arlyn and Betty (Drews) Buchholz, Bryan was born in New London, Wisconsin on August 24, 1952 and grew up on the family farm in Manawa, Wisconsin.

He attended elementary school at St. Paul Lutheran School and graduated from Little Wolf High School in Manawa in 1970 before heading to UW-Milwaukee to pursue a college degree. He met his wife, Marge, in Milwaukee, and they wed on July 1,1977. Barney and Margie (as their friends knew them during this time) moved back to his hometown and spent years living rurally - camping, canoeing, hunting, listening to records and live music, and hosting parties for their city and country friends. While they lived in Manawa, Bryan worked for the Green Bay & Western Railroad and was an early advocate for solar energy, installing solar panels on his house for the important purpose of washing his new baby’s diapers for free. Bryan and Marge raised their two girls, Melissa and Jenna, in Manawa, Milwaukee, Wauwatosa and Menomonee Falls before buying their dream home in the Kettle Moraine area of Germantown, which has housed love, laughter, bonfires, epic sledding and snowmen, gorgeously maintained hiking trails and gatherings for family and friends for the last 20 years.

Bryan enjoyed active hobbies throughout his life including running, biking, golfing and ballroom dancing. He loved live music and collecting vinyl records, was an avid birdwatcher, and was quick with a joke or the air guitar (much to his daughters’ chagrin). He was a loyal friend – in fact, making and keeping friends might have been his main hobby. Giving back was important to him and he was very active in his faith community through his leadership in Interfaith Men’s Ministries and with The Holy Smokers – providing smoked meats for all sorts of events for different churches in the Greater Milwaukee Area. Bryan might tell you his life REALLY got good when he became a grandfather and retired. He doted on his two grandsons, always willing to help them “do woodwork” (make rudimentary animals out of scrap wood and sticks), take them on ATV adventures, read stories with voices, and plan for their epic future treehouse – the site of which is obviously still top secret.

Bryan is survived by his wife of 48 years, Marge (Perpich) Buchholz, his daughters Melissa (Jess) Buchholz and Jenna (Paul) Meier; his grandsons Avery and Elias Meier; as well as his brothers Mark (Lynne) Buchholz and Tom (Bonnie) Buchholz. He is further survived by his aunts Mavis Kohl, LaVerne Wurth and Luella Zimmerman, as well as many brothers and sisters-in-law, nieces and nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews, cousins, other relatives, and a whole lot of friends.

He was preceded in death by his parents Arlyn and Betty Buchholz.

The family thanks the doctors and staff at Froedtert Clinical Cancer Center for all of their care and support these past few years.

A celebration of life for Bryan will be held at Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church in Menomonee Falls with Pastor Tom Kaul officiating on Friday, November 7, 2025 at 2:00 p.m. with a gathering of family and friends at the church from noon until the time of service.

Myrhum-Patten Funeral & Cremation Service has been entrusted with Bryan’s arrangements. Additional information and guest book can be found at www.myrhum-patten.com