Messages and memories shared by loved ones and friends.
Oh, Dear Brenna, Dear Brenna Renee, We are going to miss you so. You are light and sunshine to us. Brenna is a gift from God who was created to be loved, enjoyed, seen, and heard For a Season. Tom and I knew that. She left for Baylor in 2011 and has lived outside Iowa since high school graduation. She was raised and married in Iowa; a place near and dear to her heart. She cherished all of her family and loved them dearly. Our hearts are broken and heavy. She now will be buried in Iowa, back home in the Midwest. Brenna had abilities like no other. The list is long and those who knew her could share their own stories to concur with me. She was a blessing to us. She had such independence, beauty, and love for others. She had such purpose, determination, intelligence, motivation, love of learning, and interest in others. She was Driven. She loved life in all its fullness. She loved God. He guided her life. She knew this life is temporary and she planned for eternity. She knew to live is Christ and to die is gain. She knew God is an awesome God. Brenna loved flowers, nature, and the beauty around her. She loved giving and receiving gifts. She loved parties, Holidays, and birthdays. She loved sports and games. She loved travel and adventure. She loved good food and drink, desserts and fellowship. She loved Daisy and Winston the dogs and Winston her nephew!! Brenna was a mover and a shaker! Patience was a struggle. She worked hard and played hard. Sometimes I annoyed Brenna because I didn’t move fast enough for her. I bought her pillows for her home one time that said, “Slow Down”, with turtles on them:) That was hard for her! My heart breaks for Kane. Brenna loved Kane! She gave him her heart and life in April this year. What a happy, beautiful and fun day we all had at their wedding. My heart breaks that they will not be celebrating their first anniversary. Please everyone, continue to love and support Kane as Brenna would have. I loved her phone calls and texts. Listened to problems and challenges. She listened to mine. Happy times and sad times. Good and bad times. Loneliness and friendships, JUST LIFE...... I will miss talking, Laughing, and crying with Brenna. But she is a part of me, and I cherish that. We will all be deeply missing Brenna.
— Linda Cole
Every life is precious, and we all have a purpose but there are some people that are truly exceptional and make more contributions to the greater good in society that others. Brenna was one of these people. Losing her is a great loss to those who loved her but also to her community and to our national defense where she was directly and actively engaged with enemies of our nation. I have struggled to try and concisely write how remarkable a person Breanna was. In short, she was very gifted intellectually, but even more so was her gift of caring about other people. Listening to them, encouraging, and helping them be their best. Encompassing all of it was devotion to her faith in Jesus Christ and spreading his good news. Brenna had too large of an impact to leave as one paragraph. I need to expand these some to give even hint of the person she was. It is hard to explain how intellectual Brenna was or her quest for knowledge and excellence. In Kindergarten when students would write what they like about school. Instead of Recess or the common answers Brenna wrote “I like math.” She would continue that passion all her life. She excelled through grade school, middle school, junior high and high school. In Jr High she set her sights on earning an appointment to the Air Force Academy which she accomplished. She graduated as valedictorian of Southeast Polk a large high school. In addition, was also: National Honor Society President, Science Club President, Spanish Club President, AWANA Leader, Fellowship of Chrisian Athletes, and played Soccer & Volleyball. Due to a Soccer injury instead of delaying a year for the Air Force Academy, Brenna went to Baylor University in TX. She graduated in 2015 with a BS in Mathematics and Minor in Spanish – Summa Cum Laude. Commissioned into the Air Force through ROTC as a distinguished graduate. While in the Air Force she mastered several very selective Cyber schools as Distinguished Graduate of each. She also earned a Master of Science in Cyber Operations – Distinguished Graduate from that Air Force Institute of Technology where she also won the Dean’s Award for best research thesis. Yes, Brenna was very gifted intellectually but even with those gifts you do not continually come out on top without diligence. She studied, prepped, and prepared like no other, that is what enabled her to come out on top so many times. An ROTC classmate sent a note to us about how her and Brenna were the last two left in a Plank competition. She looked at Brenna and knew there was no way Brenna’s will would not let her win. Just very typical of Brenna. Even with her competitive spirit in academics, sports or games, Brenna also cared deeply for other people. We heard so many stories from people we met at the hospital and the Celebration of Life that talked of how she always reached out to them and assisted and encouraged them. Her brain was phenomenal. She could have done so much. She was just starting to hit her stride as an officer in the Air Force. Her meritorious medal speaks of so many accomplishments she had already made, including her team being chosen as USCYBERCOM Team of the year. She was a good leader who challenged and brought out the best in all that she worked with. I spoke with the Three Star General of Joint Base San Antonio who knew Brenna by name and said they already had plans of future positions for her. She had already made an impact in our national security not just as being a member of our armed forces but leading her cyber team in successful engagements with our enemies. It is hard to fathom what she might have been able to do, and we will never know now. At 31 years of age Brenna had traveled the world, accomplished more, and impacted more lives than most of us ever will. She is an inspiration to me and all that knew her to strive to be your best self. I am thankful to God for the years I had her as my daughter. I wish I could have had many more. My heart aches for her husband Kane having only just begun their marred lives 5 months before.
— Tom Cole
One day my border collie, Jasper, and I were walking through the neighborhood, as we often do. We came across a young lady walking her golden retriever and the dogs did what dogs do. This was, of course, Brenna and Daisy. Over the next few years, Jasper and I would cross paths with Daisy and Brenna many more times. It was extraordinary and a little crazy how good of friends Jasper and Daisy became. There were times they would get uncontrollably excited to see each other and it was definitely the high point of their days. Brenna and I would chat while the dogs were meeting and we found we had a great deal in common. Brenna was a true rising star in the cyber operations world. I had a particular understanding of how extraordinary her accomplishments were because I’m a retired USAF officer with some time in cyber operations. I also found out we were both from Iowa. Around last spring Jasper and I quit walking where we would see Brenna and Daisy. Jasper turned 15 this summer it became just a little too far for him. So, we hadn’t seen Brenna or Daisy since sometime before then. The week of Christmas my wife and daughter, who had also met Brenna and Daisy a time or two while dog walking, told me of a memorial picture on a utility pole on Broadway. I couldn’t believe it. Hearing of her passing left me with a profound sense of sadness and loss. I never knew Brenna other than passing on the street, but every time we met and chatted I left smiling. I’m confident others can relate. I can only count myself lucky to have met and gotten to know Brenna. May she rest in peace.
— Mike Shields