Brenda Lou Van Vugt

Brenda L. Van Vugt was born the tenth month, nineteenth day of 1954. She was the second of five daughters born to John R. Van Vugt and Evelyn (Fish). Brenda believed that her strength and character came from growing up on the family farm in Westfield, ND - pumping and hauling the water used by her family, helping her father farm and her mother run the cafe in Pollock, SD. She started her education at the one-room Bakker country school near the family farm, graduated in 1972 from Pollock High in Pollock, SD, earned a BS in Business Administration from Mankato State University in 1983, and finished with a Masters in Special Education from the University of St. Thomas in 2005. Brenda held various positions during her career in business, starting in the secretary pool of Honeywell before moving to staff positions in accounting, HR, sales, and marketing. She served as a product manager at DataCard before deciding to leave business and start a career in education in 1998. Starting as a paraprofessional in the Edina school system helping children with special needs, she helped unionize the Edina paraprofessionals and served as their first president in the new union. After attaining her Masters, Brenda helped start the Robbinsdale Transition Center in 2005 while undergoing treatment for breast cancer. She remained a constant force with the program, helping numerous young adults learn to be their own advocates, that everyone has abilities and disabilities and they can achieve their dreams. Brenda had a life-long love of books and reading which she instilled in her son, Chad. Her dream was to have a library room in her home with floor-to-ceiling shelves filled with books and a library ladder to reach them all. Besides reading, her passions were meeting new people, helping people in need, and being an unabashed liberal Democrat who was heavily involved with DFL politics until her recent illness. Brenda died December 6, 2016 in Methodist Hospital, St Louis Park after a 15-month struggle with bile duct cancer. To help train new doctors, Brenda has donated her body to the University of MN anatomy bequest program. Brenda outlived her original 4-to-8 month prognosis with the help of Dr. Cathleen Chen and the staff at the Frauenshuh Cancer Center, the blessings from her many friends and family, and by serving meals to others in need at The Aliveness Project. More details about her life and cancer journey can be found at www.caringbridge.org/visit/brendavanvugt. Preceded in death by her son Chad Van Vugt-McGovern, her father John R Van Vugt, her favorite uncle Pete Van Vugt, and parents-in-law Carl and Bertha Lee. Survived by her husband of 28 years Randy Lee, sisters Barbara, Betty, Ann, and Bonnie, and their mother Evelyn along with other family and friends who became family. Brenda would prefer that in lieu of flowers or plants that you consider giving to one of these charities: The Aliveness Project in Minneapolis, MN, The Hope Reformed Church in Westfield, ND, or The Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation in Salt Lake City, UT. Memorial services for the Minneapolis area will be held Sunday December 18, 2016 2PM at the Edina chapel of Washburn-McReavy. www.washburn-mcreavy.com, 5000 West 50th St., Edina, MN 55436. A memorial service for her friends and family in the Dakotas is being planned for early July 2017 at the Westfield, ND Hope Reformed Church.

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Brenda Lou Van Vugt

December 6, 2016

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