Verneil M. Branstad

Verneil M. (Anderson) Branstad, 95 of Saint Anthony, MN, passed away on March 14, 2025, at Waverly Gardens Care Center, North Oaks, MN.

Visitation will be held from 4 to 7 p.m., Wednesday, March 26, 2025, at Billman-Hunt Chapel, 2701 Central Ave NE, Minneapolis.

Funeral services will be held at 11 am, Friday, March 28, 2025, at Bethany Lutheran Church in Thompson, Iowa. Burial will be in Rose Hill Cemetery in Thompson.

Visitation will be held one hour before service on Friday, March 28th, at Bethany Lutheran Church.

Memorials are preferred to the Donald and Verneil Branstad Iowa State Engineering Scholarship fund, the University of Northwestern - St. Paul School of Nursing, or the donor’s choice.

Verneil was born January 14, 1930, in Forest City, Iowa to Orland and Laura (Field) Anderson. She attended rural school and graduated from Thompson, Iowa High School in 1948. She graduated from Fairview Hospital School of Nursing in 1952 after completing a combined college – nursing program from St. Olaf College and Fairview Hospital. She worked at Fairview Hospital and later Swedish Hospital. On May 18, 1968, she was united in marriage to Donald H. Branstad (1927-2016). Verneil was a woman of deep faith in her Lord and Savior. She was blessed with an incredible memory - especially for people’s names and the details of their lives. She always had a positive attitude and an unassuming and kind heart even through her last three years confined to her care center bed. Remarkably, from her bed, she kept in close and regular contact by email and phone with her cousins, friends, and late husband’s family. Family and her Norwegian heritage were important to her. Her home was in Minnesota but her heart was with her farm in Iowa which she was actively managing right up to her passing.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Orland and Laura (Field) Anderson and her husband, Donald H. Branstad, the love of her life.

Verneil is survived by many beloved cousins, treasured relatives of her late husband, including his brother, Glenn Branstad and his sister-in-law, Grace (Clifford) Branstad; and by many fond friends.