Brenda Anne Douglas was delivered in the Hailey hospital on March 15, 1976. On that day a generous heart and a devoted caregiver was born.
Brenda’s first job was taking care of her older brother, Michael, who has cerebral palsy. She honed her people-pleasing skills while attending Wood River High School, where she is remembered as witty, loyal and hardworking. She was a popular employee at The Pizza Factory, SnowBunny Drive-In, and Hertz Car Rentals at Friedman Memorial Airport.
At 22, Brenda was diagnosed with lymphedema, which made working outside of the home difficult. It was around then that her friends started having kids. Seeing a renewed opportunity to provide and stay connected, she started her own daycare. She was lovingly called TiTi, Nanny, or Mom by her surrogate children.
In 2000, Brenda would have her own daughter to call her Mommy. Vanessa (her Boo) was joined in 2004 by Gabriel (her Monkey). She threw her heart and soul into her children, staying on top of their education as passionately as their entertainment. Still, her arms remained wide open to others.
Brenda continued to provide daycare until 2010, when she learned that her father, Big Mike, had colon cancer, and her priorities selflessly shifted again. With her dad’s death, Brenda became her brother’s primary caretaker.
Brenda saw her role in life to make everyone else’s lives better. Her positivity and support were evident in everything she did. She put everyone else before herself. She never missed an opportunity to celebrate everything. She suffered tremendous pain over the years, but she never bowed. She was the strongest and most fun person in the room and loved her holidays and vacations, friends and family.
In 2018, she started experiencing more daunting health issues, but only those closest to her would have known. She made sure no event was missed, and that her kids had every opportunity available to them. If a parent couldn’t be there, she stepped up and snapped the photos. Funds needing raising, causes championed, Brenda was front and center. She drove tirelessly across this Valley, getting her brother to Higher Ground, raising responsible and gifted children who she held to being as accountable to her community-at-large as she was.
Heaven gained an angel with the most prominent wings sitting next to her father, Mike, and Sue-Sue, as Brenda passed in her sleep the morning of May 3, 2020.
She is survived by her mom, Sue; her stepmom, Ann; her brother, Michael; her two children, Nessa and Gabe; Uncle Bill (Anna and children); Aunt Bunny (Bob and children); Aunt Lee (Ed and children); her sisters, Sonya (Skippy), and Sara and her children, Marcos, Lili and Lucas; her niece Elizabeth (Emory) and their children, Eisham, Mimi, Carvyn, Macksyn, Barclay and Lylla; her nephew Zachary and his daughter Zyana; her cousin Dustin (Emily) and their children Charlotte and Wyatt, as well as her best friends, who turned into her family over the years: Moe (Marc); Malinda (Lupe), her children, Breanna, Mary, Benny and Khloe; Susan (Carlos), her children, Miguel, Adriana, Sergio and Nani; Nancy (Pascual) and their children, Alex, Jizel and Polett; Teresa and her children, Francisco, Melissa, Lissette, Mia and Koko; Tracy and her daughter Lexie; Erica and her son Peyton; and Marisa (Joel) and her children, Lacoby, Thalia and Tino; Jake (Lauralynn) and his children, Kaidence, Paitin and Isaac; and many more friends and numerous aunts, uncles and cousins.
Brenda is preceded in death by her father, Michael James; her grandmother, Susan Kobe (Sue-Sue); maternal grandparents, Ma and Pa; her best friend, Brandi; her nephew, Isiah; her uncle. Matt (Cocklebur); Aunt Rose, Aunt Katie, Aunt Ceilia, Aunt Terry, Aunt Ellen and Aunt Meg.
Under the direction of Wood River Chapel, there is going to be a celebration of life at a later date. Donations can be given to Pioneer Federal Credit Union in the dropbox with the name Gabe or Vanessa in the memo line. Please share a photo, memory or condolence and light a candle at: www.woodriverchapel.com.
