Obituary of Brenda J. Carey

BRENDA’S LIFE STORY Brenda Joyce (Skipwith) Carey was born on March 27, 1945, in Princeton, New Jersey to the late William Jamison Skipwith and Mary Evelyn Lewis both who were raised in Princeton, NJ. Brenda was the middle child of her parents. Her oldest brother Bill who had an honorable discharge from the service predeceased her and her younger sister Mary Alice who lives in Westampton, New Jersey. Brenda lived overseas in Germany in her early elementary years due to her father a commanding officer in the Army being deployed to Germany to reestablish Germany after the war. During that time in Germany Brenda had fond memories of a best friend and happy times of their living situation. Her parents were able to travel to Paris and living was easy. When returning to the states, Brenda went to school in Princeton, NJ and Franklin Township, NJ. Brenda graduated from Franklin High School in Franklin, New Jersey. She attended First Baptist Church of Princeton on Green Street where her grandmother played the organ, and her father was a deacon. Brenda did nanny work as a teen and traveled with the family to the Boston area. She also attended summer overnight camp at the YMCA with her 1st cousins from Little Rocky Hill, NJ and at one time she had to be airlifted out of the camp because the camp had flooded during a bad storm. After high school, Brenda attended Harlem Hospital School of Nursing where she had three friends, she maintained for most of her adult life. Brenda was a country girl who felt very shy in the big city, but her parents encouraged her and she made it through. It was a tumultuous time in our country in the 60’s and Brenda marched at that time as a nursing group of African American women in Malcolm X’s funeral. When Brenda finished the nursing program in Harlem she transferred to the University of Pennsylvania where she received her BSN in Nursing. It was there that she met her husband Donald Alvin Carey who was a student at St. Joseph’s University. Mom fell in love with Donald easily because she would say he had the nicest smile and was so kind and caring. He used to meet her at the library daily waiting for her to come out from studying with an umbrella or a coat for her to wear. Brenda and Donald eloped in 1969 and married each other at the Philadelphia Justice of the Peace. They have maintained a happy union for 53 years. Brenda and Donald lived in a small starter apartment when they first married and mom would say the front door was so thin when the wind blew, they thought the door would blow in. They lived above a doctor’s office on Spruce Street. When Jill was born, they moved to Willingboro when their daughter was 6 months old. Three and half years later Jeffrey was born, and they have lived in Willingboro in the same house the past 52 years. When Brenda’s children were very young, she obtained her school nurse certification so she could be home with them when they got out of school and in the summertime and on school vacations. Brenda loved being a school nurse and would talk about her job all the time. She worked for a short while in Trenton Public Schools while waiting for a position to open up in Willingboro. When it did, she never left. Brenda was the head nurse in Willingboro Public Schools for 20 years and was a school nurse in the district for 40 years before she retired. She worked at JC Stuart, Twin hills, Memorial Jr High school and Willingboro Highschool. Prior to her retirement Brenda received her master's degree in Public Health from California College of Health Sciences. Upon retirement, she worked part time for a few years at Friends Academy of Westampton where two of her grandchildren were attending. Brenda is nana to five grandchildren Mikayla, Malcolm, Jordan, Austin and Bryce. Brenda joined First Baptist Church of Willingboro in 1973 because they had Sunday school for the young child and Jill was asking about God. Brenda has been an active member of First Baptist church of Willingboro for almost 50 years. Brenda has served for 40 years in the Awana ministry and was also a Sunday school teacher and Vacation Bible school teacher. Brenda also enjoyed being fed the word of God by attending her weekly women’s Sunday school class. Brenda was an active, energetic, fun-loving wife, mom and nana. She loved day trips to Lancaster, NYC to see Broadway shows and Washington DC to ride bikes to the Smithsonian’s and see the monuments. Brenda was always up for an adventure. Brenda loved to do Zumba dance fitness 3 days a week with Shamsun at 76 years old, take group piano lessons with friends, work on jig saw puzzles, play online games, follow specific You-tubers, and cuddle with her rescue Shitzu pup “Izzy busy”. Brenda loved to collect lighthouses and enjoyed viewing beautiful birds. In 2015, Brenda contracted breast cancer. After battling with chemo and radiation, Brenda went into remission for 7 years until the breast cancer returned in March of this year. Brenda did not stop serving in church and caring for her loving husband. It was only a month ago that Brenda became bedridden but continued to be courageous and inspire others. Brenda was an avid supporter and encourager of preventative health. She was a great listener and friend to many. She relied on her Lord and savior to pilot her life. She wanted to do what God wanted her to do. She leaves to cherish her husband, Donald, her children; Jill (late Andre’) and Jeffrey (Brett), grandchildren: Mikayla, Malcolm, Jordan, Austin and Bryce; a sister Mary Alice Rountree; 2 nieces Stephanie Perry, and Autumn Rountree, a sister n law Jean Perry, and a host of relatives and friends.