Melissa Brunmeier

Funeral services for Melissa Brunmeier were held on Friday, July 12, 2024, at 10:00 a.m. at the Burke Civic Center in Burke, SD, with Ferris Fedde officiating.

Joy Seeger, Amber Linn and Bailey Schrader were in charge of registration Casket bearers were Melvin Vosika, Tanner Reuer, Bud Wilson, Allen Dobson, Aaron Hogrefe, and Clint Hitchcock. Honorary casket bearers were Melissa’s many friends and family. Kotrba-Smith Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.

Melissa Lee Brunmeier was born in Yuma, AZ, on April 16, 1980, to her mother Ionia (Smith) Klein. Melissa spent the first six months of her life in Arizona until they moved to Dallas, SD, where Bob (Robert) Klein entered into her life as her father.

Melissa went to Gregory, SD, for school up until her junior year when she attended Hill City High School until 1999.

Melissa then moved back to Winner, SD, where she and Justin Brunmeier welcomed their son Tyler Brunmeier on April 26, 2000. She had her daughter Ellie Jo Cole on February 22, 2006.

In 2010, she met the love of her life, Wayne Fiebelkorn, and they combined their children Tyler, Natalie, Ellie Jo, Teah, and Dylan. They spent a loving 14 years together, enjoying every part of life.

Melissa had many hobbies, which included shopping for old antiques she could restore or turn it into something with renewed beauty, pottery, fairy gardens, and collecting dragons. She was known for her witty remarks and her laugh. She was always a joy to be around if you needed a pick-me-up, or you just needed to have a good time.

Melissa had many jobs over the years; she was a jack-of-all trades. She worked everything from construction, and retail, to healthcare. She found her real calling as a cook at ROCS dining for three years until her decline of health when she could not work anymore. She enjoyed all the relationships she made there.

One of Melissa’s proudest moments was becoming a grandma. She would always make sure those babies were taken care of and spoiled, no matter what. There was never a day that she wouldn’t make memories with them no matter if they were her adopted grandbabies or her biological.

She is survived by her daughter Ellie Jo (Kolby), Pukwana, SD; her husband Wayne and kids Natalie, Teah, and Dylan, all of Gregory, SD; her grandbabies Riverlee, Kensley, Gates, and Jackson; her father Bob Klein, Gregory, SD; siblings Micheal (Selena), Hardwick, MN, Michelle, Winner, SD, and Matthew (Shelby), Mitchell, SD, and her nieces Alaina, Michaela, and McKenzie, and nephew Cooper; aunts Sherry and Kay; uncle Jeff; in-laws Don and Diane Fiebelkorn; Scooter & Kerri. She also leaves behind a clan of adopted children that treated her as a mom, along with a lifetime best friend since 1998 Alisha Gonzalez, “adopted mother” Joann Frasch; and a host of cousins, relatives, and friends.

She was preceded in death by her mom Ionia Klein; her son Tyler Brunmeier; grandma Donna Jensen; grandpa Darell Smith; and uncles Joe Smith and Jim Smith.