Brenda Joyce Phillips Walden

Brenda Joyce Phillips Walden, born February 23rd, 1945, went to be with her Heavenly Father on March 20th, 2025. She was recently honored on her 80th birthday surrounded by her loved ones, and was able to see family members who she does not see often. She was greeted at the gates of Heaven by her parents Franklin Alexander and Lucinda, her brothers Virgil, Arless, and Bernard, her sisters Magdalene and Leola, her husband of 40 years Hal, her sister-in-law June, her mother-in-law Clara, and her son-in-law Neal. We know that the second she arrived, she was celebrated by the loved ones who were waiting for her. She is deeply missed on Earth by her daughters Valorie and Judith(Judy), her son-in-law Jerry, her grandchildren Jordan and Jacey, her grandson-in-law Alex, her brother Glenwood, her sister Beatrice, her sister-in-law Judy and her husband Duane, her best friends Jackie, Shirley, Linda Lea and countless other family members and friends who all were so blessed and thankful to be able to call Brenda a loved one.

Brenda was a Godly woman who devoted her life to Christ, we all know she is now somewhere beautiful in Heaven with no pain or heartache, swinging in a rocking chair probably looking at the garden she’s started up there, that most definitely has tomatoes and beautiful flowers.

Throughout her life several hobbies came and went but some she really enjoyed was coloring, baking, gardening, and QVC shopping. Oh boy, did Brenda like QVC. Her favorite thing to order was Lock&Lock Tupperware. She would order several containers with no idea where they were going, some ended up gifted as part of her plan, but she also kept an alarming amount of them for herself. She always kept her porch clean and decorated, it was a wave of color and sound coming from a variety of flowers, string lights wrapped around her tree, and an assortment of chimes. She has always been very proud of her homes and always kept them beautifully coordinated.

Brenda was the kindest, most gentle, caring, loving, sassy, down to earth person you could ever encounter. There was no one she wasn’t willing to help or do for. Even at the very end of her life, through her struggles, she made sure everyone in the room was taken care of. She passed very peacefully, surrounded by her loved ones. To the end she showed her strength and dedication to her family and made the hard decisions for us. We will be forever grateful to her for everything she has done for us, but for her to take away one of the most difficult decisions a family can make and ensured that all the difficult decisions that typically burden a family were taken care of by her and God, is something so selfless, only a true Angel could do.

To my brother Jordan and I (Jacey), Brenda was our Mema. Mema has been there for us since the days we opened our eyes. There is not a time that either of us can tell you that she wasn’t there. No matter what it was for, she was always there to support us. We spent a lot of time with her growing up, Jordan and Mema spent a lot of time riding around in her Gator, just enjoying their time together. Jordan would fall asleep in Mema’s lap while she was scratching his back right after making him a big bowl of cookies and cream ice cream. Mema and Jordan has a special book called Goodnight Moon, she read it to him countless times as a child. One Christmas, her gift to Jordan was a new copy of Goodnight Moon, she got Jordan into her lap and read it to him just like she used to. You could see all over Mema’s face, how much joy that brought her. Mema and I would take turns brushing each other’s hair or scratching each other’s backs. The hair brushing almost always turned into Mema letting me put 100 hair ties into her hair making 100 tiny ponytails, without hesitation or complaint, always doing what she could to make us happy. In our adult years, Jordan and Mema bonded a lot over sitting at her apartment eating and watching movies. Jordan was Mema’s first grandbaby, and she loved him so dearly, she will always be so proud of him. He will always have a special place in her heart as her first grandbaby and he was spoiled as such.

Mema and I went to the grocery store every weekend, we would spend the entire day going around Walmart or whatever store she wanted to see that day. When she started driving scooters around the stores, she honestly became a hazard. Which we both thought was hilarious and we constantly made jokes about her hitting people with the scooter. What seems like a chore or task to get finished to some, our grocery store trips were one of her favorite things to do, and while I hate grocery stores, spending that time with her was my favorite thing to do. We would spend 8 hours in a store, then go get dinner together. She would fuss at me for being out past dark but then we’d stand on the porch and talk for another 30 minutes before I’d leave. Days after losing Mema, I had a hard time leaving my bedroom. Beside my bed is a window covered by a curtain; it looks out into the woods. I was lying in my bed and heard something pecking at the window. I moved the curtain, and there stood a bright red cardinal pecking at the glass. This had never happened before, but there it stood, it was looking inside right at me, and not the slightest bit spooked that I moved the curtain. That ‘red bird’ as Mema called them, was sent by her to let me know she was home, and that she’s always with me. Thank you for that Mema.

Mema was a very special lady to us all and I know she is waiting for us to one day be reunited with her, and she will wrap us up in the warmest embrace. We could not have asked for a better Mema.

From Valorie:

May 21st, 2005 is when I graduated college, that was the last family event we all celebrated together before my father passed. On that day, my Mama looked at me with such pride and joy. I had never seen her look at me with so much pride, she told me how proud she was of me. But that wasn’t the only thing she told me, Mama looked at my diploma and said “Is that English? I can’t read it.” I laughed and told her no, that it was Latin. She responded, “Well I quit school early, I can’t even read it!” I will always remember how funny that conversation was and how she was looking at me that day. I hope she continues to look down on me, with that same pride in her eyes. I will love and miss you forever Mama.

From Judy:

From a very young age, I’m sure before I can even remember, my Mama always had my back. She was always there for me regardless of the situation, regardless of whether I was right or wrong, my Mama was always there to hold my hand. Although she did this with my children, it started with me and Valorie; taking turns brushing each other’s hair, scratching each other’s backs, sitting in her lap swinging in a rocking chair until we would fall asleep. She always had this peace about her, you just felt at home and safe when you were sitting with her. Mama always wanted to see and be around her grandchildren, anytime I needed a babysitter, she’d watch them, or we would all pile into the car and go sit and hang out with her. The love she showed all of us is one of the most amazing things you could ever ask for, she was the greatest Mama we could have ever gotten, and I’m so thankful for all my years with her. No matter how tired she was, no matter how sick, no matter anything, she took care of her family. To her very last breath, she was taking care of us. She is truly the best, most generous, and genuine person I have ever met; she was such a bright light to anyone, lucky enough to have her in their life. I love you Mama, thank you for everything.

From Jordan:

There cannot physically be another Brenda Walden. This woman was truly a once in a lifetime woman that you got to meet. Her kindness and care, her soft mannerisms, her innocence. Oh, how the list could go on for this woman. She just poured out so much love into everything she touched. This woman’s presence immediately made any environment a safe haven. Mema was a lot of things to me, a motherly grandmother if you will. No one could ever hurt her grandbabies if she had anything to do about it; and in the occasion that anyone around her was hurting, she would do everything in her power to try help the individual or nurture them through it. She was the first person I would run to with anything. Any issue at all, I’m talking to Mema. Or even if I was going through something that she couldn’t understand, she still brought be the highest level of peace. I see her in my daily life now even after her passing. Beautiful sunflowers & dandelions, hummingbirds & cardinals, all now feel like a “hello” from my protecting Mema up above. When I eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, I always make it the exact same way she did, or try to at least..everything she made was so much better for some reason. Her chicken & dumplings, her biscuits & gravy, her spaghetti, her red velvet cake, gosh I could go on for days about her foods and always trying to push sweets on me. I’ll always get a laugh of how much she loved food & feeding her loved ones. The love and respect I have for this woman is something that can’t be measured, and she will always be a part of me. I could go on forever but we’d need a bigger website. I love you Mema.

No amount of words will be able to describe the love and affection for Brenda, she blessed all of us just by being around. She had a wonderful sense of humor, and when it came to her sons-in-law, for some reason she just choose to always give them hell. Jerry has always made jokes to her, most of them she didn’t understand, which would make the situation even funnier because Brenda would give a fake giggle then ask what it meant and meet the explanation with a “Jerry!”. Alex ended up being the same way, he always gave her a hard time. Brenda would ask Alex to do something around her house or on her porch, Alex would do it poorly just to see her huff and puff, they regularly asked each other why the other was so ‘sorry’. Several of my favorite memories are of Mema hitting Alex with her scooter, or Alex hitting Mema with the store buggy. We’re all happy to know that up in Heaven, Neal is giving her the same treatment. Neal is absolutely asking her if she brought her toes to Heaven.

There will forever be a spot missing from our lives now that you’re gone, Mema. We know with every Cardinal flying by, every flower blooming in our gardens, and every homegrown tomato on a sandwich, you’re here with us in spirit. I know you will always be watching over us, protecting us, and uplifting us. We all love you so much, and I know you feel the love radiating from down here because it is so strong. We will continue to live our lives trying to make you proud, and we will miss you dearly until we are reunited. We love you, Mema, thank you for always being there.