Brenda May Stiens

Brenda May Van Patten Stiens, 70, of Idaho Falls, passed away June 20, 2024, at Idaho Falls Community Hospital, due to complications from COPD.

Brenda was born October 7, 1953, in Edmonton, Canada to Donalda Hansen. She grew up and attended schools around Canada before moving to the U.S. in her 20's.

On April 14 1979, she married Donald Eugene Stiens in Pearland, Texas. They also lived in Oklahoma, (where their eldest daughter Robyn was born) and New York, (birthplace of daughters Kimberlee and Katherine) before settling down in Idaho Falls, Idaho, near where Donald grew up, to be close to family.

Brenda was a homemaker until her three daughters started school at A.H. Bush Elementary, where Brenda volunteered full time for more than a decade before being hired on as a paraprofessional. She served in that role until she retired in 2019, providing welcome support to teachers and improving the lives of thousands of students, including her grandson Caleb. The Bush community was a beloved source of friendship and support for Brenda and her whole family through the years, and she invariably repaid that support though thoughtful gifts and by being as selflessly helpful to others as she could be. She forever loved learning new things and spending as much time with her children and grandchildren as she could.

Brenda is survived by her mother, Donalda Hansen of Penticton, British Columbia, Canada; daughters, Robyn (Todd) Buchanan of Idaho Falls, ID, Kimberlee (Geoff Marshall) Stiens of Washington, DC, and Katherine (Jeremy Amonson) Stiens of Idaho Falls, ID; grandchildren Caleb and Daisy Buchanan; grandfurbabies; and brothers John and Rocky Good.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Donald Eugene Stiens.

Services will be held at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, August 17, 2024, at A.H. Bush Elementary School library, 380 W Anderson Street, Idaho Falls, Idaho.

In lieu of flowers or donations, the family requests that anyone whose lives were touched by Brenda's kindness and unfailing commitment to her community send a note or story, or photograph, which the family will share at her memorial service to celebrate her life.

Condolences may be sent online to the family here or sent to Wood Funeral Home, 273 North Ridge Avenue, Idaho Falls, Idaho, 83402.