Brenda Dearborn

MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. — Brenda Elizabeth Dearborn, 68, of Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, the wife of Stephen L. Dearborn, died peacefully at home on Friday, April 21, 2017, after a hard-fought battle with cancer.

Brenda was born March 11, 1949, in Bridgton, Maine, daughter of the late Bruce Cole Sr. and Arlene Russell Fellman. She graduated from Bridgton High School in 1967. She and her family were fortunate to have lived and traveled to many areas, both domestically and internationally, which meant a large and diverse ring of close friends that she held near and dear.

Brenda was a very good athlete. She played basketball, softball, and enjoyed skiing early on, then focused on competitive team tennis and went speedwalking five to six miles per day for the past 30 years.

She felt her life had been lived to the fullest and that her family had been truly blessed. Her bucket list was complete with no rock left unturned. Brenda had a real zest for life and was an amazing wife, loving mother, loyal friend and doting Nana to her grandchildren. In a word, she was the foundation of the family, which allowed all around her to follow their dreams. Her love, her smile, her quick wit and her many passions kept her life full of joy.

She had a real flair for cooking and tweaking a recipe, which made her very popular with family and friends. Many a time one of her grandsons would be sitting on the counter, helping fix "that special dish." She loved gardening and gathering discarded bricks for patios and pathways, and she picked up rocks between Maine and South Carolina in order to create bedding areas and stonewalls at the family home in Maine. She loved filling her homes with collectibles and antiques. No holiday went unnoticed due to her extensive decorating. Brenda was in the truest sense, a hunter-gatherer.

Over the past year, Brenda showed a courage that would be hard to match. That courage was in large part due to the wonderful and loving group of family and friends both near and far whose support was awe inspiring. She will be missed and never replaced because she was the "complete package." Her family will now celebrate her wonderful life and the impact she had in her 68 years young. She is in a better place and her family will one day be by her side once again.

She is survived by her husband of 48 years, Stephen L. Dearborn, of Mount Pleasant, S.C.; mother, Arlene Russell Fellman of Bridgton; two daughters, Heidi Noelle Mahoney (John) of Mount Pleasant, S.C., and Kristen Beth Cummings (Douglas) of Anchorage, Alaska; two grandsons, Andrew Michael Milligan (Callie) of St. Simons Island, Ga., and Nicholas Cummings of Anchorage, Alaska; two brothers, Bruce Cole Jr. (Susan) of North Bridgton, Maine, and Gary Cole (Suzanne) of N. Monmouth; and a sister, Jeannine Cole of Lewiston; a niece, nephew and numerous cousins also survive.

A celebration of her life will be held Saturday, May 6, 2017, at the J. Henry Stuhr Inc., Mount Pleasant Chapel, 1494 Mathis Ferry Rd., at 12 p.m., with a reception to follow at the funeral home. Another celebration of her life will be planned in Maine this summer.

Memorials may be made to Water Mission, P.O. Box 71489, N. Charleston, SC 29415. A memorial message may be sent to the family by visiting our website at www.jhenrystuhr.com