Harriet R. (Keplinger) Brin

Friday, Jul. 28, 2023

Harriet R. (Keplinger) Brin

April 28, 1928 ~ June 24, 2023

Harriet R. Brin died of natural causes on June 24, 2023, in Ogden. She was a caring, thoughtful woman who enjoyed helping others and going on family adventures. 

Harriet was born on April 28, 1928 in South Dakota to William E.C. Keplinger and Susie Hilton. She grew up in Herndon, Kansas and was valedictorian of her high school class. She went to college at Fort Hays Kansas State College, Hays, Kansas, where she graduated with a degree in business administration. At Fort Hays College, she met William “Bill” James Brin and married him at Plainville, Kansas on August 16, 1949. After Bill got a job with the Bureau of Reclamation they moved to various states in the western United States, including North Ogden, Utah and Hollister, California, in 1976. Bill died in 2011. In 2016, after having heart valve surgery, Harriet moved to Ogden, Utah, to live with her eldest daughter.

Harriet raised three girls and worked as a secretary in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and again in Hollister, California; then worked for the Unemployment Office in Hollister; and later was a purchasing agent for the Bureau of Reclamation Office in Gilroy, California. She and Bill were active in the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA); the Hollister Airmen’s Association; and the Historic Trail Flyers; Harriet herself was a pilot and a member of the Monterey Bay and Gavilan 99’s, a women’s flying association. 

Harriet is survived by daughters Ann Eden, Ogden; Lois Diemert (Bill Shaffer), Bellevue, Washington; and Beth Brin (Larry Lechner), Boise, Idaho; grandsons Reg Eden (Laurie), Austin, Texas; Dustin Diemert (Jisun), Baltimore, Maryland; Josh Diemert (Christina Cunningham), Grand Saline, Texas; and granddaughter Lyndi Eden, Ogden; five great-grandchildren; her brother Edward Keplinger, Aurora, Colorado; and sister Ada Leiker, Great Bend, Kansas. Her mother and father predeceased Harriet, as did her brother, Ronald Keplinger, his wife Myrna, her brother-in-law Elmer Leiker, her sister-in-law Elaine Keplinger, and her half-brother, Willard Nolan, and his wife, Arvilla.

The family gives special thanks to Intermountain Home & Hospice Care staff and the Visiting Angels respite care staff for their compassionate help with Harriet, and a very special thanks to nurses Julie L. and Heather S.

A funeral Mass was celebrated on July 1, 2023, at St. James the Just Catholic Church, Ogden. Burial will be in Plainville, Kansas at Sacred Heart Cemetery.