Mercedes "Merc" Bruss

Mercedes "Merc" Bruss (Nee Frakes). Passed away peacefully surrounded by family on April 15, 2020 at the age of 97. Beloved wife of the late Hilbert. Loving mother of Jack (Jill), Jerry, Bill (Chris), Kathy (Mike) Wethal, Mike (Donna) and the late Judy. Preceded in death by siblings Buster, Lloyd, and Ione. Survived by brother John, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, relatives and friends.   Mercedes was a formidable woman born in 1923.  She was a professional artist, a businesswoman, an independent thinker, a hard worker, an incredible mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. She worked hard, she traveled, she saw beauty where others typically do not, she built her own unusual half-underground home where her children and Grandchildren spent countless hours.  She baked bread all her life, walked five miles per day until her 90s with her friends. She watched birds, grew tomatoes, enjoyed nature and her life and the people around her.  A consummate host - she threw a get-together in December of 2019, and served her own delicious baked goods. She was a hard worker and never afraid to speak her mind.  She was fiercely independent, loved everyone, and did not believe a woman should depend on a man.  Among her descendants are so many hard-working, independent, and successful people, many of them also entrepreneurial in one way or another, there is no question she inspired us all. She was strong-willed and independent and lived her life the way she wanted, and she passed away yesterday at age 97. Private family service will be held.