Brenda Grady, a Fore Women Golf Association member for many years, lost her battle to leukemia on January 25, 2014. Debbie Wittenben, her friend of 40 years, shared her remembrances of Brenda:

Brenda loved golf and the Forewomen Golf Association.  We joined together in the late 90’s.  She would introduce herself to everyone she met on the golf course man or woman and tell them about our wonderful golf club. She brought several members to FWGA. Chris Negus, for one, who we met at Buchanan playing with her husband and Kathy Karste plus several other ladies from Lone Tree in Antioch.

 Brenda was the most glamorous golfer I knew.  She came to play in full on make-up and jewelry. She looked so gorgeous you might think she was going straight to a dinner party after golf.  Maybe she was.

 One of Brenda’s proudest golf moments was when she shot a birdie on the 7th hole at Pebble Beach. She was playing in her husband Quentin’s company tournament and he got to see this. The spotter at the hole told her it was almost a hole in one.  What a thrill for her!   She received a plaque acknowledging her closest to the pin honor with a framed picture of the 7th hole at Pebble Beach.  It hung proudly in her living room.

 Early in her play with Forewomen, she got an Eagle on the 9th hole at Diablo Hills. She hit a long drive to the right that travelled the cart path all the way down pin high to the flag just off the cart path.  She then hit a blind 9 iron over a hill that looked really good, but we couldn’t see where it landed.  We went to the green and saw no ball.  We were looking everywhere, when finally someone said “Hey it is in the hole”.  Wow, did we do a little golf dance on that one!  I repeat this fun story to others when we play that hole quite often. So fun.

 I loved Brenda’s spirit and laughter.  I can still hear her contagious and slightly wicked giggle.  We would come in from playing a round of golf and it would not be unusual for Brenda to say “I think I will have a dirty Martini”.  Wicked giggle 🙂

 She was a very talented and acclaimed artist.  She mostly painted in water colors and her house was filled with her spectacular work. She also generously gave her paintings to many lucky people. She painted a beautiful water color of the 7th hole at Oakhurst Country Club and donated it for the FWGA annual auction a few years back.

 If you were lucky enough to share a cart with Brenda then you got to hear her glow about her children and granddaughter.  She would always have photos to share. She was so proud of them.  And you would also get to hear a joke or two. Always funny and a bit racy too. She loved to laugh and make others laugh with her.  She made golf fun.

 Probably my most thankful memory is when Brenda found a Mother and litter of beautiful kittens after playing golf at Las Positas Golf Course.  She called me for help trapping them to get them spayed and adopted.   She was relentless about saving these cats. We trapped two beautiful kittens just 3 days before Christmas. With no takers or facilities able to take them, she took two herself and gave them a loving home. She worked with Community Concern for Cats and got all the others (4 more) trapped spayed and adopted. She even convinced me to adopt one beautiful kitten, and my Lucy will always remind me of my wonderful friend Brenda.

 She was truly one of a kind and a very very special lady.  She will be missed by many!

Services will be held in Sacramento on February 7th and 8th.  More info will follow.