Ronald Alphonse "Ron" Brixius

1940 - 2024

Ronald Alphonse Brixius passed away from medical complications on December 16, 2024, at M Health Fairview Ridges Hospital in Burnsville, Minnesota.

Ron was born on August 19, 1940, in Litchfield, Minnesota, to Herb and Mary (Theis) Brixius. He grew up on the family's dairy farm near Manannah, Minnesota, and graduated from Litchfield High School. He attended St. Thomas University in St. Paul and graduated with a degree in Mathematics in 1962.

Ron was drafted into the U.S. Army after college graduation. He was trained as a Radio Teletype Operator and served in that capacity in Germany. He was honorably discharged in 1964. Ron got a job with the Sperry Rand Corporation as a computer systems analyst and was tasked with maintaining their computer systems including the very first multiprocessor computer introduced in 1965.

While attending a "Catholic mixer" at a St. Paul dance hall, he met Joanne Schmitt, an undergraduate student at St. Catherine University. They married on October 7, 1967, in LeSeur, Minnesota.

Ron's job required him to travel all over the world to maintain computer systems at military installations and on military vessels. For one year, he was stationed at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, where he and his colleagues maintained the computer systems that provided the communications link between the spacecraft and mission control for the Apollo program. Ron retired from Unisys (the company's name after merging with Burroughs) after 30 years of employment.

He enjoyed golfing, playing cards, firearm-related sports, camping, fishing, and was an avid coin and stamp collector.

Ron is survived by his dedicated wife, Joanne (Schmitt) Brixius; his sister and brother-in-law, Marlene (Brixius) and Tony Jennissen; his brother-in-law, Joseph Schmitt; his sisters-in law, LeVaun and Dianne Schmitt; his former sister-in-law, Dixie Lund; as well as many nieces and nephews and their children.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Herb and Mary Brixius; and his brothers-in-law, John and Thomas Schmitt.

Funeral services will be at All Saints Catholic Church in Lakeville, Minnesota, at 11:30 am on January 8, 2025. He will be interred at Fort Snelling National Cemetery.