Brenda Gayle Meis

Brenda was born in Downers Grove, Illinois, to Lola Belle Beck and Dallas Victor Spangler. She was the youngest of six children, with three older brothers and two older sisters. Any one of them would tell you she was a spoiled princess who got away with everything as the baby of the family. As a young girl, she loved adventure and travel, and that passion followed her throughout her life. Brenda came from a military family, with all three brothers serving in different branches during the Vietnam War. That pride in her big brothers led her to enlist in the United States Air Force, where she was stationed in Tucson, Arizona, as a Supply Specialist.

After her military service, life led her to a small restaurant and bar in Windsor, Colorado, where she got a job as a bartender and was immediately smitten with the cute son of the owners. That young man was Rick Meis, and they fell hard and fast for each other. Rick and Brenda often called each other soulmates and best friends. Their love was big and loud, and their children and grandchildren only added to the joy and chaos as the years passed. Rick and Brenda were married for 42 years, and in that time, they enjoyed beach vacations, cruises, European adventures, and anywhere warm, where Brenda could be found with a book by the pool, getting a fantastic tan.

Her children always knew she would be the loudest mom on the sidelines. She was always the best-dressed at any occasion and was guaranteed to have the longest nails in the crowd. She had a sense of humor that, even though slightly inappropriate, could make the most stoic person laugh. That sense of humor kept her young far beyond when her body aged.

Brenda suffered from COPD and, in 2017, received the ultimate gift of a lung transplant. Those new lungs gave her years that would not have been possible without the decision of one family to tie their loved one’s life to another’s and let pieces of them live on. Brenda used those lungs on the golf course, where she played but also supported her husband's love of coaching the RCS golf teams and getting to love on each of the players. She loved to drive the cart (even if she forgot golf etiquette from time to time), encourage the players, and load them up with snacks and special gifts. “Coaches wife” will be missed by the entire program. Her new lungs visited Disneyland and Disney World, took many more beach vacations, and, most recently, a trip to Canada for one last big adventure.

Brenda is survived by her loving husband Rick, her sister Joyce (Charlie) Probus, sister-in-law Melinda Spangler, her children Edmund (Leanne) Muchowski, Nancy (Ken) Fogerty, Kacy (Kyle) Mitchell, and Kyle Meis, as well as her grandchildren Bowe, Jaeda (Jared), Gage (Rhiatta), Morgan, Ellie, Austyn, Rickie, and Zeppelin, and great-grandchildren Eric and Aurora. She was preceded in death by her brothers Dwain, Terry, and Craig, her sister Carolyn, and her daughter Samantha.

A Celebration of Life will be held at Northern Colorado Cowboy Church on February 20th at 11 a.m., with a reception immediately following at the Greeley Country Club.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you make a donation in honor of Brenda and her youngest granddaughter Rickie’s special connection to the 4P Support Group (www.4p-supportgroup.org), which helps families whose children have been diagnosed with that rare condition. Please also consider registering as an organ and tissue donor and talking to your family about those wishes.