SCARBOROUGH - Anne-Lise Brewer (“Mor Mor”) passed away peacefully on July 12, 2018 after several years of severe health situations. She was born in Asker, Norway on July 23, 1930 and is the daughter of Reidar Fredrik and Ruth Themte Fougner. She attended school in Asker, until 1939 when the family moved to Oslo, Norway where she completed her schooling. As WW II started many of her classes had to be held in private homes due to the Nazi occupation. Norwegians endured severe food shortages and insufficient supplies of clothing, shoes, and other necessities. As the war progressed the situation became much worse with regard to normal life. Lise remembered these hard times and the trauma it caused and relayed those stories to the next generation. After the war, Lise was employed as a dental assistant in Oslo. At an early age skiing and ice skating were major winter activities and she became quite accomplished at both. She also was active in the Girl Scouts.
She met her future husband in 1948 when he was an engineer with Moore McCormack lines and visited Oslo many times to load or discharge cargo. In 1949 she and James L. Brewer were married in Oslo. Lise came to the USA in 1950, living with Jim’s sister Paulla Gaffney in Michigan until moving to California where they bought their first home in Lemon Grove. As an engineer in the Merchant Marines, Jim worked on vessels to supply our forces in Korea and Japan. He was gone for extended periods of time leaving Lise with the responsibility for family and home for many years during the Korean War. She was a caring mother, wonderful cook and homemaker. On November 11, 1954, after extensive study, Lise proudly obtained her USA citizenship and was naturalized in San Diego. Her neighbors and family surprised her with a HUGE party to welcome her as a new citizen. Pretty impressive for a young woman in a foreign country, speaking little English and knowing almost no one!
After her husband entered the US Coast Guard in 1956 they moved to many different areas of the country where Lise would establish their new home and still found time to volunteer for Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts, Red Cross and church activities. She was a member of Lemon Grove, California Lutheran Church, Beverly, Massachusetts Lutheran Church and attended St. Ansgar Lutheran in Portland, Maine. She and her family enjoyed many years of tent camping from 1950 until 1970 when the family built and loved their small camp (The Stump Ranch) in Naples, Maine.
Lise was predeceased by her parents, her husband Jim, and two brothers -Hans Christian Fougner and Per Witzoe.