James Braun Death, Obituary – James “Jim” Alfred Braun, age 80, of Green Lake, Wisconsin, passed away in a calm and serene manner on Friday, January 6, 2023 at Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was from Green Lake. Jim Braun, the son of Alfred and Anne (Jaworski) Braun, was delivered into this world on December 3, 1942 in Ripon, Wisconsin. He could play golf throughout the year because to his residence in Apopka, Florida. However, the highlight of his life was when he was able to teach his grandkids how to play the game that he had been so passionate about to his own grandchildren. He golfed with all of his daughters. When it came to everything, Green Lake was his personal location, and over the course of the past year, he was able to share his passion for the lake with his special girlfriend, Kathy. Jim was a member of the State Board of the Wisconsin Restaurant Association, served on the Ripon City Council from 1975 to 1981, was a member of the Ripon Noon Kiwanis, and was president of the Ripon Chamber of Commerce for a period of two years.
All of these positions were held simultaneously. He was also a faithful attendee of the Catholic Church of St. Patrick for many years. With the exception of a few years spent working in hospital food service in Caribou, Maine, and Montgomery, West Virginia, Jim has spent his entire life in Ripon. Jim and Claire believed that Ripon would be a much better environment to raise their young daughters when it came time for them to relocate to Chicago. After moving back to Ripon, he got a job at The Grill Restaurant owned by his father, Alfred, and eventually bought it from him. When it came time to expand the company, he bought the old Ripon Commonwealth building and rebranded the restaurant as Braun’s Family Restaurant. In the same way that The Grill had been a mainstay in the neighborhood for the previous 37 years, Braun’s was there for the community for over 20 years. There was a gathering of family and friends to celebrate community, homemade pie, and memories.
Working in the restaurant as waitresses or cooks, all of his daughters learned the value of hard work by watching and emulating their father. When his children’s children started having children of their own, he and Claire decided to take the next step in their life together by retiring from the restaurant business and splitting their time between their homes on Green Lake and in Florida. After receiving his diploma from Ripon High School in 1961, he enrolled in classes at Milwaukee Area Technical College. The wedding took place on May 9, 1964, at the St. Mary of the Angels Catholic Church in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The bride was named Claire Louise Parins. Between the years 1975 and 1996, Jim and Claire were the joint owners of Braun’s Family Restaurant in Ripon.
His passion was golf, and he would play the sport whenever he could and for as many holes in a single day as the sun would allow. He accomplished three holes in one, which made him very proud. He was able to meet new people through his job as a starter at Lawsonia, which also provided him the flexibility to play golf whenever he pleased. When he spent hours on the lake, whether it was skiing or tubing with his children and grandchildren, sipping cocktails while sailing on the water on the boat, or simply gazing out at the lake from the deck, he felt at ease. In 1984, when he and Claire bought the property, their hope was to turn it into a gathering place for their family, and they were able to make that goal come true. The lake is like a second home to his grandchildren, who all grew up there, and it is a very precious location for them.