Louise Marie (Lebsch) Brinkmeyer, daughter of Louis and Margaret Ann (Fugmann) Lebsch, was born May 23, 1906, in Camp Verde, Yavapai County, Arizona Territory. The family moved to Prescott early in the 1920s. Due to rheumatism, her mother became an invalid in 1923. She met Henry Herman Oscar Brinkmeyer, Jr. while working as a beautician next door to the Brinkmeyer Hotel. “He used to bring me a bowl of soup for lunch just about every day,” said Louise. “You know, I never paid for even one bowl of soup.”

After the First World War, Henry Jr. returned to Prescott and went into business with his father. Louise and Henry Jr. were married on October 23, 1930, in Flagstaff, Arizona. The couple had no children.

Louise was a member of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church and the Golden Rule Chapter No. 1, Order of Eastern Star. She and her sister-in-law, Caroline, enjoyed traveling and took many trips together.

When Henry Jr. died February 17, 1957, Louise took over running the Brinkmeyer Hotel. In 1962, she decided to close the hotel and renovate the building into modern office spaces and have an elevator installed. Louise informed the newspaper that the renovation would be a credit to the city when it was completed. “I’m too young to give up and too old to run a hotel,” she said.

Louise moved to Wickenburg in the 1970s. She also lived in Black Canyon City for awhile before returning to Prescott, where she lived in Samaritan Village.

Louise died on June 27, 1980, in Prescott with Eastern Star services and was buried at Mountain View Cemetery.  In lieu of flowers, the family suggested donations to the Prescott Samaritan Village.

Louise’s mother-in-law, Ina (Muzik) Brinkmeyer, sisters-in-law, Caroline Emily and Marcella Brinkmeyer, and her husband’s aunt, Emily (Muzik) Brinkmeyer, are also commemorated in the Territorial Women’s Memorial Rose Garden.

Donors: Janet Hilton and Herman and Cookie Brinkmeyer, April 2006
Photo Located: RGC-MS-39, Box B, F-Brinkmeyer, Louise
Update: 5/13/2015; D. Sue Kissel