Submitted by Descendant: Jo Anne ARNETT
Kirsten Marie Brun was born in Fredericia, Denmark, left family and friends to marry Valdemar Gram 02/15/1899. Their first daughter, Bertha (Birta) Christine, was born 11/16/1899, and second daughter Anne Margaret, was born 10/30/1903.
Kirsten was an excellent cook and seamstress who was rarely seen without busy hands. She typically visited and crocheted with a crochet hook and string in her lap. Her table cloths and bedspreads are family heirlooms.
Kirsten formed a small Danish club and was known for her aebliskever and fruit soups. The coffee pot was always on. She raised chickens, had a small garden, and walked with a crutch during the last part of her life. She ran the boarding house in Moore Haven before she and Valdemar operated the Hyde Park Hotel in Tampa. She returned to Moore Haven after his death, to live in the family home with Bertha, who never married. By this time the downstairs had been converted into two apartments and, later, into a home for their daughter Anne Gram and Jimmy Couse, with their three children. Every afternoon Kirsten and her daughters took a break for coffee, a treat, and conversation.
Kirsten died of pneumonia in the Clewiston hospital following a brief illness.
Kirsten Marie Brun was first established as a Florida Pioneer in 2003