Annabelle Gerhart Brenner

Annabelle Gerhart Brenner, R.N., age 83, passed away at Emory University Medical Center after a brief infection on October 27, 2010.  She was a kind, generous person who most recently had enjoyed visiting with her family, playing rummy and bridge, watching her granddaughter play soccer and ride horses, and making friends in her assisted living residence.   In her younger years, she had been an excellent seamstress, knitter, and cook, even after her activities became limited by arthritis.  She graduated from Middlesex Hospital School of Nursing in New Jersey as a registered nurse.   She met her husband George, back from World War II, on a blind date while he was at Rutgers University and she was in nursing school.  Pediatric and obstetrics nursing were her favorite specialties, and she liked to talk about taking care of children back in the days when registered nurses "specialed" sick children at home.   Her most recent job before she retired was working in a pediatric clinic, where she was the charge nurse.  Before she became a parent, she was a Girl Scout leader with the nickname "Clover."  She was the president of the Newcomers Club when she lived in Mountain View, California.  A great parent, she ensured that her daughter always had enough activities to keep her out of trouble, and she put up with and learned to love a menagerie of pets.  Her favorites were Basenji dogs, most recently her "granddog," Jasper.  For much of her life, arthritis pain tried to hold her back, but she did her best to continue with as many activities as she could.  Until a couple years ago, she did water exercise at the Dynamo Swim Club.  When she was 70 years old, she worked hard to successfully quit smoking because she did not want her granddaughter to be affected by the smoke.   She was predeceased by her husband, George J. Brenner and her brothers Elmer, Jacob, and John Gerhart, and is survived by her daughter Sue Anne Brenner, M.D., granddaughter June Brenner and son-in-law Jerome Tokars, M.D., brother Monroe Gerhart, sisters Lorraine Cassel and Mary Petticoffer, and many loving nieces and nephews.  A memorial service will be held at KingsBridge Retirement Center at 2 pm on Sunday, November 7 (3055 Briarcliff Rd NE, Atlanta, GA 30329, 404-321-0263). Memorial donations may be made to Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta, 5601 North Allen Rd, Mableton, GA 30126 (www.gsgatl.org for online donations). 

Funeral Home:
AS Turner & Sons
2773 North Decatur Road
Decatur, GA
30033