William "Bill" Brennand's Obituary
William F. “Bill” Brennand, age 92, of Oshkosh, died Tuesday morning, March 14, 2017 at Brookdale Senior Living. He was born on August 20, 1924, the son of Roy and Susan (Murray) Brennand.
Bill grew up on a farm that is now the south end of Wittman Regional Airport. As a boy working in the fields, he would watch in fascination as famed air race pilot Steve Wittman would practice racing, zooming around trees for race pylons, never imagining that he would become Wittman's protégé and go on to become a champion air racer himself. Brennand won the National Air Races several times as well as many others, then went on to become an airshow performer with Wittman. After a stint as a corporate pilot flying for a local paper company, Bill opened his own airport near Neenah, which lives on and still bears his name. Bill also spent many happy summers flying to Canada where he loved to fish.
As EAA grew in the 1970s Paul Poberezny asked if they could use Bill's private property on Lake Winnebago as a seaplane base. Bill managed the operation for over two decades, and the base continues as one of the busiest seaplane bases in the world during convention week.
In the summer of 1970 Bill and some friends embarked on a project that seemed nearly impossible: bring back the wrecked remnants of a Stinson TriMotor from Alaska and restore it to flight. The effort took over a decade, but when completed Bill and his team flew the airplane around the country for years, giving rides to thousands. The airplane is now part of the collection of Kermit Weeks at Fantasy of Flight in Florida.
As the decades passed, Bill sold off his airport and aviation interests and spent more time relaxing. As he put it, he never retired, just slowed down a little bit at a time. A longtime member of the EAA Chapter 252 in Oshkosh, Bill's last aviation project was advising fellow chapter members on the configuration and construction of a replica of Buster, the airplane he flew to fame in the National Air Races, for the EAA Aviation Museum. The original Buster is in the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.
Bill is survived by his sister-in-law, Kathaleen (George) Brennand; four nieces, Joanne Pederson Anhalt, Mary Brennand Wegener, Carol (Mike) Pederson Riemer and Eileen Brennand; five nephews, Robert (Carol), Donald (Sandy) and Thomas Pederson, Michael (Teri) and Patrick Brennand; other relatives; special friend Marybeth Jackson, and many dear friends. He was preceded in death by his parents; two brothers, Norbert and George; a sister, Mary Pederson; a brother-in-law, Russell Pederson; a niece, Kathaleen Brennand Zimmerman; and two nephews, Philip Anhalt and Thomas Brennand.
Memorial services will be held on Tuesday, March 21, 2017 at 11 am at the Fiss & Bills Funeral Home at 865 S. Westhaven Drive. Oshkosh, WI 54904. Father William Van De Kreeke will officiate. Visitation will be held at the funeral home on Tuesday from 9 am until 11 am.
In lieu of flowers, a memorial fund will be established in Bill’s honor.
The family wishes to thank the staff at Brookdale Senior Living for their compassionate care of Bill during the last year of his life.
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