Joseph Bronk

Joseph Francis Bronk, age 92, of Minnesota City, MN, died Tuesday, December 2, 2025 at his home.

Joe was born February 12, 1933 to Tom and Helen (Zielinski) Bronk in Winona. He was the 12th of 13 children. Joe graduated from St. Stan’s School and from Cotter High School. In 1951, after graduation, he worked in building construction for a short time and entered the Army during the Korean War in the early 1950’s. He was with the 11th Airborne Combat Engineers and was a Bulldozer Operator. While in the service, he joined the 338th Boxing Team at Fort Campbell, KY where he won 8 of the 13 fights. This qualified him for the Golden Gloves at Fort Bragg, NC where he lost on a split decision.

While in the service, he married Gloria Carpenter at St. Stan’s on February 11, 1955. In Winona, after being discharged from the Army, he went back to building construction for a couple of years. In the mid 1950’s, he worked at Reggie’s Roller Rink in Winona. At the roller rink, he taught people how to waltz and two step on roller skates. One of the favorite tunes that he and his wife, Gloria, waltzed to was the theme from “A Summer Place.” In February 1958, Joe joined the Winona Police Department where he served for 36 years. Joe was an avid scuba diver and was the first underwater rescue diver for the Winona County Sheriff’s Department and the Winona Police Department. After about two years, a deputy sheriff formed a dive team. Joe’s deepest dive was 60ft in a Wisconsin Lake.

Joe enjoyed fishing walleye on the Mississippi River. He took many fishing trips with his fishing partner, Dick, to South Dakota where they fished the Missouri and Cheyenne Rivers for walleye.

Joe took several fishing trips to the Lake of the Woods on both the Minnesota and Canada side. Half of those trips were by float plane out of Warroad, MN where they would fly you to an island resort and pick you up in four days.

One of his daily things to do, when not on a fishing trip, was to go to Bonnie Rae’s Café in Rollingstone, MN for his daily coffee and breakfast. He did this since they opened in 1990.

Joe is survived by his sons: Steve (Cindy) Bronk of Goodview, MN, and David Bronk of Stockton, MN; grandchildren: Derrick (Kristy) Bronk of Onalska, WI, Trevor (Holly) Bronk of Rochester, MN, Dana (Luke) Stockhausen of Rollingstone, MN, Krystal (Erik) Kanz of Winona, MN, Kyle (Angela) Bronk of Goodview, MN; seven great-grandchildren:

He is preceded in death by his wife, Gloria in 2016; son, Jeffrey; daughter-in-law, Marilyn and his parents.

A funeral service will be held Monday, December 15, 2025, at Hoff Celebration of Life Center in Winona at 11:00am. Visitation will be one hour prior to the service at the funeral home. Interment will be at St. Mary’s Cemetery in Winona.

The service will be live streamed. To view the live stream, click here.