Therese Mary (Furmanek) Braga, 91
Therese Mary (Furmanek) Braga, age 91 of Stevens Point, passed away Sunday evening April 27, 2014 at St. Clare’s Hospital in Weston, Wisconsin.
A Mass of Christian Burial for Therese will be held at 11:00 AM on Friday May 2, 2014 at St. Stanislaus Catholic Church. Rev. Thomas Lindner will officiate. Burial will follow in the St. Ladislaus Parish Cemetery in Bevent. Friends and relatives will gather to share memories from 4:00 – 8:00 PM on Thursday at the Shuda Funeral Chapel – Stevens Point. The St. Stanislaus Rosary Society of which she was a member, will lead the rosary at 7:00 PM Thursday at the funeral home.
Visitation will also be from 10:00 – 10:45 AM Friday morning before the Mass at church. A Memorial in lieu of flowers will be established for St. Stanislaus Church.
Therese was born on October 14, 1922 in Bevent, Wisconsin, the daughter of Jacob and Dorothy Furmanek. She was a 1941 graduate from P.J. Jacobs High School in Stevens Point. She earned her Bachelor of Education degree from Central State Teachers College which later became U.W. Stevens Point. Years later, she also earned a Master’s of Science Degree from the same institution. Mrs. Braga spent the early years of her career teaching all eight grades within one-room school houses in rural Marathon County. She especially loved teaching children in the primary grades, with first grade being her favorite. Like many American women during World War II, she worked as a “Rosie the Riveter” in Detroit, Michigan, contributing to the war effort and producing needed supplies.
Therese married Mario Braga on August 19, 1950 at St. Ladislaus in Bevent. They lived in the Eau Claire area until 1956 when the couple moved with their young family to the Detroit area to continue their teaching careers. After Mario’s death in 1961 she continued to teach first grade while also raising her three young sons. In 1968 she moved her family to Stevens Point and began teaching first grade in the Stevens Point School District until her retirement in 1994. Therese was a member of the Michigan and Wisconsin Education Associations, National Education Association and Stevens Point Retired Teachers Association.
In her later years, she enjoyed travel, reading a good book, sewing, swimming, volunteering, following “her” Milwaukee Brewers and especially spending time with her children, grandchildren and great grand children.
Therese is survived by her loving family including her sons Gerald (Ann Chesebro) Braga, Sugar Grove, IL, David (Patty Loew) Braga, Middleton, and James (Jean Katzer) Braga, Madison; her very special niece Marge Gorecki, Mosinee; her seven grandchildren Kariann, Geoffrey (Morgan), Travis, Wesley, Brooks, Marcus, and Dominic; and two great-grandchildren Pearl and Pierce.
Online condolences may be sent by visiting http://www.shudafuneral.com.
