Crowley, Brenda Marleen, of Juno Beach, Florida and Kennebunk, Maine, daughter of Daniel Emmet Crowley and Alda Isabel McNally Crowley died on Oct. 22, 2018 after a brief illness. A beloved friend, sister, sister-in-law, aunt, and avid beachgoer, she was 75 years old.

Brenda’s voice had laughter in it. When you spoke with her on the phone, everyone in the room with you could hear Brenda’s end of the conversation. Despite speaking in a loud voice, Brenda did things quietly. She attended daily Mass at Our Lady of Florida.
She did not talk about herself. And she did not complain except when the weather ruined a beach day.

A 1961 graduate of St. Joseph’s Academy, Portland, Maine, and a 1965 graduate of Dunbarton College, Washington D.C., Brenda got her first job teaching English and Latin at Archbishop Neale High School in La Plata, Maryland. In 1967, she moved to Massachusetts and earned a Masters in Guidance and Counseling at Boston College, then helped establish the guidance department at Arlington Catholic High School, where she worked for five years. In 1973 Brenda joined the Malden, Massachusetts Public School System where she served until her retirement in 2005 as guidance counselor at the high school and middle school level and also taught English. She lived in Wellesley.

Brenda had an ability to get through to the prickliest adolescents and show them she was on their side. She used this skill at work and in her family, convincing teenagers with a dark outlook that the nonsense of growing up would eventually subside.

Brenda was tireless, efficient, effective, and quick. And God, she was funny. She loved to laugh. She solved problems and cut to the chase. She saw challenges simply and saw people clearly. She had an unclouded view of people and helped those she loved navigate complicated situations when they asked for help. She seemed to see around corners, anticipating outcomes and consequences long before they happened. She put this efficiency to work herself, avoiding Florida’s raised drawbridges and following the tide charts for the optimal beach experience.

Brenda was so much fun. She was at the center of a throng of friends that she kept for a lifetime and added to over her entire life. Among her first friends were her older sister Danna and her younger brother Robby. The three of them had adventures growing up in Biddeford and Old Orchard Beach. They could send each other into hysterics with increasingly loud recollections of that time they were sure they’d spotted at-large criminals from wanted posters or imitations of characters from childhood. The three have remained tightly knit their entire lives. After retiring, Brenda moved to Palm Beach County and began a new chapter. Soon after, Danna and Robby realized it was the place to be, and followed Brenda there.

She will be missed by sister Danna Maureen Crowley of Jupiter, Florida and Kennebunk, Maine, brother and sister-in-law Robert Emmet Crowley and Virginia Sughrue Crowley of Kennebunk and Juno Beach, and nieces and nephews Elizabeth Crowley and John D. McKinnon of Washington D.C., Kate Crowley Hastings and Tucker Hastings of Greenwich, Connecticut, and Paul and Nicole Danielle Crowley of Washington D.C. She is also missed by great nieces and nephews Burke, Sam and Sallie Hastings, Virginia and Conor McKinnon, and Helen and Emmet Crowley as well as her many dear friends.

A Memorial Mass will be celebrated by Fr. Paul Sughrue on Saturday, October 27 at 11:00 am at St. Martha's Church in Kennebunk.

Should friends desire, memorial contributions may be made to McArthur Public Library, 270 Main St. Biddeford, ME. 04005 to support its adolescent reading program.

To share a memory or leave a message of condolence, please visit Brenda’s Book of Memories page at www.bibberfuneral.com.

Arrangements are in care of Bibber Memorial Chapel, 67 Summer Street, Kennebunk, ME 04043.