Our staff is comprised of dedicated and licensed professionals with the experience to answer all your questions regarding our services. Please feel free to contact any of our staff members at any time.
Mike Bratley
Funeral Director/Owner
Michael Bratley was raised in Ashland, WI, and graduated from
high school there. Ashland is also where
he met his future wife, Erinn Johnson, while in high school. After high school he attended the University
of Minnesota-Duluth where he received a Business Administration degree and then
the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis where he received a Mortuary Science
degree. In 1997, Mike moved to Hayward,
WI, where he began his career in funeral service with the Anderson-Nathan-Koerpel
Funeral Home. Mike and Erinn were
married in Ashland, WI, in 1998 and since then have resided in Hayward raising
their two children, Emma and Tyler. Mike
is an avid outdoorsman who enjoys fly fishing and various kinds of hunting. He is a member of First Lutheran Church in
Hayward and the Hayward Area Rotary Club.
Marcus Nelson
Funeral Director/Owner
Marcus Nelson, licensed Funeral
Director in Wisconsin and Minnesota, co-owner, and a Wisconsin Licensed
Insurance agent, has been part of the funeral homes in Spooner since March of
1998.
Marcus began his funeral
service career in June of 1994 when he began his apprenticeship at the Swedberg
Funeral Home in Webster, Wisconsin. He then graduated from the University of
Minnesota – Minneapolis, with Distinction, with a Bachelor’s Degree in Mortuary
Science in June of 1998, and has resided in Spooner since July of 1998.
Marcus and his wife, Maria,
have two children, Tristan and Gabriela.
Marcus, an Eagle Scout, has held nearly every position in the Spooner
Boy Scout Troop 104 over a span of 20 years. He co- established the
Spooner High School Trap Shooting Team, and has been its head coach since its
start in 2016. He has also been on the
Wisconsin Funeral Directors Association Board of Directors since 2007, serving
as President in 2014, and continues to serve on several committees, President of the Leadership Development Foundation, and the Wisconsin Representative to the National Funeral Directors Association.
In his spare time, Marcus
enjoys the outdoors, hunting, fishing, woodworking, working and
spending time with family at the family farm near Danbury.
Terri Reiter
Funeral Director
Terri Reiter is a licensed funeral director in both Minnesota and
Wisconsin since 2008 after apprenticing for Bratley-Nelson Funeral Homes &
Crematory, formally known as Anderson-Nathan-Koerpel Funeral Homes & Crematory prior to her licensing. Terri has worked in some capacity for the
funeral homes since that time. She was awarded a Bachelor of Science, Business
Management degree, May, 1991, and an Associate of
Applied Science, Mortuary Science degree from Mesa, AZ, May, 1999. Being in the funeral profession is a “calling”
for Terri, feeling that helping folks in time of need is truly an honor and a
blessing.
Terri is married with an awesome blended
family of four grown kids and five grandchildren, all very loved and respected. She has lived a very blessed life in Spooner,
with parents, grandmother, two dear sisters and their precious family since
2006. She’s very community-minded,
serving as Alderperson for Spooner City Council Ward 4 since 2015, and one term
2016-2018 as Washburn County Board Supervisor. She enjoys worshipping and
playing piano full time for the Spooner United Methodist Church.
Ron Brown
Former Owner/Retired
Growing up on a farm in rural Shell Lake, a local girl, Jeanne Beardsley, caught his eye when he exhibited his horse at the County Fair, and in 1968, just a few days after their wedding, he deployed to a Naval Communications Base in Asmara, Ethiopia. A year later they met up in Germany, had a whirlwind tour of Europe with a Eurail Pass, then went on to Ethiopia to complete his duty in the Navy. Returning to Washburn County, Ron served with the Wisconsin National Guard with the Spooner Engineer Battalion.
College at the Barron County Campus in Rice Lake, followed by Mortuary Science School at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, started Ron on his career as a funeral director. From 1978 until 1998, Ron and Jeanne owned the Brown Funeral Homes in Solon Springs and Minong, then he worked with the Bratley-Nelson staff whenever they needed him to put on his suit and tie. Connecting with families that he had served became such a wonderful reason to come to work with the staff. Sharing the most difficult event of death with someone's family just never goes away.
Grandchildren, Spencer and Lacy, are daughter Tiffany's children, and they live in Rice Lake. Granddaughter Baylee is son Mitch's daughter, they live on part of the family farm, and Mitch is Director of Public Works for the City of Shell Lake.
Ron is a member of the American Legion Post #499 in Gordon where he has served as Commander and is currently Chaplain and Honor Guard Commander. He has been a president of the Spooner Jaycees and the Solon Springs Lions Club, and he has served on the boards of the Washburn County Lakes and Rivers Association, the Minong Town Lakes Committee, and the Minong Flowage Association.
Delivering
Meals on Wheels from the Minong Senior Center, deer hunting, collecting water
quality data on the lake, kayaking, reading and traveling keep every day
interesting.
Ken Frame
Apprentice
Ken Frame is a resident of Hayward, moving here in February of
1995. He has three children - Kristen, Stephanie and Laura, and three grandchildren as
well! Ken married Robin (formerly Anderson) in June of 2004 and they live out in the
hills near the OO Birkie Trailhead near Seeley, WI. They affectionately call
the house their “Birkie Trail Retreat”, with family and friends visiting on a
very regular basis. Ken and family love the closeness of the American
Birkebeiner Ski Trail, CAMBA bikes trails, snowshoe trails, and all the other
activities the local silent sports scene has to offer.
Having worked with the funeral home since October of 2010,
Ken has transitioned from being the office manager for the funeral homes to a
position of Director’s Assistant/Crematory Operator as of September 2018. The
increased role has Ken working more closely with families that we serve and
assisting the directors more closely as they serve the families who come to
us, as well as continued responsibilities related to assisting at funerals,
singing as a soloist when requested, trips when required, and pitching in to do
what is required to serve our families the best that we can. Ken says, “I just
want to serve the folks where our funeral homes are located to help all I can
during what is a very difficult time. Trying to make a difference daily for the
folks we serve is an honor and a privilege”.
Samantha Shaw
Administrative Assistant
Sam Shaw was born and raised in southern Minnesota and moved to Hayward
in 2008. She started working for the
funeral home in October of 2014.
Sam is married to her husband, Jamie, and has two boys. When she isn’t spending time with her family, you can find her either reading, crocheting, or enjoying the lake.
Jeri Witkowiak
Administrative Assistant
Jeri Witkowiak has been working
in the office at the Spooner Funeral Home since October of 2019. She is originally from Onalaska,
Wisconsin. After graduating from Western
Technical College in La Crosse with an Associate’s Degree in Secretarial
Sciences, she joined the Air Force.
Following six years on active duty, she returned to Wisconsin and joined the Air National Guard. She completed 20 years of military service
and retired as a Master Sergeant in 2002.
She has also worked in the offices of the Onalaska and Appleton Police
Departments, and worked for the Wisconsin Departments of Veterans Affairs and
Health Services in Mauston. Jeri retired
from the State of Wisconsin in May of 2019.
At that time, she and her husband, Buddy, moved to Spooner. They have two sons and five grandchildren.
Kris Larsen
Director Assistant
Kris Larsen helps at the Funeral Home during busy
times. He works fulltime at the DNR as
the Northwest Citizen Lake Monitoring Coordinator and Aquatic Invasive Species
Specialist. He has volunteered as a
coach for youth soccer, served 22 years in leadership roles for Boy Scout Troop
104, and assistant coach for the Spooner High School Trap Team. He enjoys hunting, fishing, camping, and the
many outdoor activities available in northern Wisconsin.
Stacey Hessel
Director Assistant
Tim Zeigle
Director Assistant
Tim Zeigle has served as a Director's Assistant with Bratley-Nelson Funeral Homes since 2010. Prior to that, Tim served 28 years in Law Enforcement, retiring as Chief Deputy from the Sawyer County Sheriff's Department in 2010. Tim assists with services at all Bratley-Nelson locations. Tim and his wife, Barb, have resided in the Hayward area since 1977. Since retiring from Law Enforcement, they spend their winters in Punta Gorda, Florida. Tim and Barb have two sons and seven grandchildren.
Fred Kosmach
Director Assistant
Fred Kosmach has served as Director’s Assistant with
Bratley-Nelson Funeral Homes since 2019 after semi-retiring as a full-time
physician’s assistant. Fred has a heart
for people, and loves to help wherever and whenever he can. He is the Chairman of the United Methodist
Church in Spooner, and very active in the community. Originally from the
Chicago area, Fred has lived in the northern woods, mostly Spooner, for nearly
25 years! Fred loves muskie fishing, and
makes yearly trips to Canada with family.
Marvin Mullet
Director Assistant
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