John P. Brennan

John P. Brennan

October 6, 1931 – November 13, 2022

VISITATION: Friday, November 18th, 10:30 – 11:30 a.m. at Mary Our Queen Catholic Church, 3405 S 118th St.
MASS OF CHRISTIAN BURIAL: Friday, November 18th, at 11:30 a.m. at Mary Our Queen Catholic Church. Luncheon to follow.
INTERMENT: Omaha National Cemetery at a later date.

To view the live broadcast of the Mass, please visit www.heafeyheafey.com and click the“View Live Cast” button at the top of the home page.

In lieu of flowers, memorials are suggested to Mary Our Queen.

John was born October 6, 1931, on a farm southwest of Morse Bluff, Nebraska, to John F. and Mary (Mares) Brennan.  He had one sister, Jeanene, who was three years younger.  The family lived in North Bend for a few years and then moved to South Omaha in 1944, where both of his parents worked in the packing house.

To earn spending money, John would caddy for the field club during the summer.  He would also clean cattle pens at the stockyards for extra spending cash.  John graduated from South High School in 1949.

John joined the Coast Guard on November 2, 1950.  He was on the USS Forester DE 434 during the Korean War as a “Sonar Man” 2^nd Class in the South Pacific Sea.  He was honorably discharged on July 29, 1952.  He then served five years in the Coast Guard Ready Reserves.  John obtained his BS in Business Administration from UNO using the Korean GI Bill.

A blind date led to meeting the love of his life, Joan Kaup.  They were married on September 26, 1953.  John was a forty-one-year employee of Kellogg’s, where he held various supervisory positions, including assistant personnel manager, packaging and food manufacturing manager, and training manager.

The Kansas City Royals was John’s team – he loved baseball.  If John weren’t sitting on the patio listening to the games, he would be in the stands cheering them on.  There were many trips to KC – sometimes, it would be John, Joan, and the younger John.  Later, it would be John and his three sons, Tim, Pat, and John.  He was also an avid football fan.  Saturdays were spent cheering on the Huskers, while Sundays were spent cheering for the Kansas City Chiefs.

Dad enjoyed yearly family vacations.  They would pack the family car and head out to destinations such as Yellowstone, Rocky Mountain National Park, Montana, and Canada. One memorable trip was a week that John and Joan spent with Mary, Jerry, and the grandkids in Lake Tahoe.  He also enjoyed fishing.  John took a few fishing trips to Montana with his Kellogg buddies.  John, Joan, Tim, and Rita were also able to go fishing in Alaska while visiting Denise and her family.  He was a catcher for fast-pitch softball in his younger days.  John liked to play golf as well.  He achieved a hole-in-one.

John is survived by his lovely bride of 69 years, Joan G. (Kaup) Brennan; children: Denise (Dave) Rickenbacher, Tim (Rita) Brennan, Pat (Kim) Brennan, Mary (Jerry) Maranitch, and John (Gaylene) Brennan; eight grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren.  He was preceded in death by his parents and sister.