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Brenda Jo (Estes) Gardom, 72

Brenda Jo (Estes) Gardom, 72, of Rathdrum passed away peacefully at her home on June 5, 2019. The youngest of seven children, she was born Oct. 3, 1946, in Mesa, Ariz., to Beulah (Caula) Agnes (Bayes) and John Paul Estes.

She graduated from Round Valley High School in Springerville-Eagar, Ariz., in June of 1965. She married her high school sweetheart and eternal companion, Ronald Allen Gardom, on July 23, 1965, in Springerville, Ariz. The young family then relocated to North Idaho in 1971, where they raised four children. They then settled in the Rathdrum area in 1989.

While she worked a variety of jobs outside the home, Brenda Jo was a dedicated wife and mother, making her lifetime career a domestic manager and a stay-at-home-mom. She supported her husband and all her children’s endeavors, ensuring that they could follow their own dreams and interests.

She was a master seamstress and created fashionable clothing for her family as they grew, as well as amazing flannel shirts for her husband. She loved to crochet and created the most beautiful pieces. There are many family members, relatives and friends who are kept warm by the beautiful items she crafted. In the ’70s and ’80s she loved dancing with her forever love, and she was an active member of the Coeurly Qs. She spent a lifetime showing others what strength and perseverance looked like as she battled multiple sclerosis without letting it define who and what she was. Her kind heart and warm personality welcomed everyone she came across.

Brenda is survived by her forever love, Ronald Gardom; her children, Caula (and Joe) Fitzgerald, Ronda (and Stephen) Clower, Brandon (and Lisa) Gardom and LaTanya (and Jim) Keough; 16 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren, with another expected in August; a sister, Francille; and numerous nieces and nephews. Brenda was preceded in death by her mother and her stepfather, Jesse F. Simpson; four brothers; Elmer, Larry, Freddie and Pat; a sister, Paula; and her father.

Services will be held at 11 a.m. on June 12, 2019, at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 15151 N. Meyer Road, Rathdrum. A graveside service will follow at Greenwood Cemetery in Spirit Lake.

In memory of Brenda J. Gardom, donations to help in the search for a cure for multiple sclerosis can be sent to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society at www.nationalmssociety.org.

To send flowers or a remembrance gift, please visit Brenda’s online memorial at www.yatesfuneralhomes.com.