Bob Brinster

Bob’s Father in heaven called him home after a brief and courageous battle with brain cancer on December 20th at the age of 79. We are told He only calls the best to be with him.


Bob was born March 14, 1932 in New England, North Dakota, the son of Raphael and Katherine (Decker) Brinster. He was the nineth child of a family of eleven. When Bob was about four years old, his family moved to a farm 13 miles south of Belfield, to a community named Gaylord. The family became members of a nearby church named Our Lady of Lourdes. As a young man, Bob attended a country school from 1st through 8th grade. He was then required to work full time on the farm. He and his siblings all worked hard on the family farm raising mostly cattle and grains. Bob (for recreation) loved to dance to the old time German music and would often attend dances at the Community Hall. This is where he met his life’s soul mate, Dolores Frank. They dated and were married on October 2, 1951. Bob and Dolores moved to a farm south of Belfield where they farmed and started their family. Kenneth was born in 1953, Lenora in 1955, and Duane in 1958. In 1958, Bob and Dolores took a family vacation to visit Bob’s sister and brother-in-law in Portland, Oregon. While visiting, they were both impressed with the beauty of the state and the possibility of a new and better life for their family. They moved in 1958 and lived in Portland for three years where their final two children were born, Cheryl in 1959 and Curtiss in 1961. Farming was still in Bob’s blood and after looking at many properties, Bob and Dolores found the farm of their dreams near Scappoose, Oregon. There they would work and live together for the next 50 years. They loved living on the top of the world, with the Willamette Valley to gaze upon every day. Bob started working at the Co-op Linton Plywood Mill in 1958, and was a share owner until 1994 when he retired, and became a full time farmer again. He was happiest when he was on a tractor doing custom hay work, which he did for himself and numerous customers in the Scappoose/St. Helens area. There was many a day that Bob would work well past dark, often putting in fifteen plus hour days. But he loved it, and continued until 2011. Bob was also an active member of St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church in Scappoose where he helped out in any capacity that was asked. While living in North Dakota he belonged to the St. Pius Verein Club, and was also a member of the Eagles Lodge Chapter #3426 in NW Portland. Those that knew and loved Bob will always remember his quiet strength, his playful personality, and his infectious smile. His passing has left a hole in the lives of those who survive him.


He is survived by his wife, Dolores: Son and his wife; Kenneth and Marilyn Brinster; Daughter, Lenora Brinster Anderson; Son, Duane Brinster; Daughter Cheryl Brinster; and Son, Curtiss Brinster; three grandchildren: Michael Anderson, Tracy (Anderson) Correa, and Caroline Brinster; Siblings: Barbara Steiner of Portland, OR, Ralph Brinster of Dickinson, Adeline Durrah of Cathlamet, WA, Ann Frank of Minneapolis, MN, Eugene Brinster of Portland, OR, Leona Selinger of Brainard, MN, and Leslie Brinster of Belfield, ND.


He was preceded in death by his parents, two sisters and one brother.


Burial Date: January 15, 2012
Funeral Home Dickinson, ND