Brenda Margaret Contreras

On Monday, January 2, 2023, Brenda Margaret Contreras, beloved wife and mother of three, passed away at the age of seventy. She lived in Houston, Texas at the time of her passing, but she considered Las Vegas, Nevada, her home. She lived there for the majority of her life. After graduating from South Pasadena High School in 1969, she worked as a cashier at Safeway Grocery Store. This would begin a career in the grocery retail business lasting 49 years. She retired from Smith’s Food King Grocery in 2018, where she held the position of Scanning Coordinator.

She loved to tell her family the story of how she met the love of her life, James “Jim” Contreras. She happened to be walking down the street one day outside the grocery store where her father worked. Jim was walking down the sidewalk on the other side of the street. Jim noticed her and asked her what she was doing. She yelled out, “It’s my birthday.” Jim explained to her that it was also his birthday. (Their birthday’s fell three days apart – Brenda’s on February 23 and Jim’s on February 26.) The rest is a love story that lasted over 5 decades. They were married for over 50 years.

They have three children – Kristi, Traci, and James “Jimmy.” Brenda was passionate about ensuring her children valued education, and she made sure each of them could read before entering kindergarten. She helped them with homework and instilled in them the value of hard work and determination. Most importantly, she filled them with unconditional love and would do anything for them.

Brenda immediately lit up any room she entered with her infectious smile, bubbly personality, and bejeweled accessories. (She loved anything with “bling.”) She never knew a stranger. Whether it was a family member, friend, or someone she just met, Brenda was soon deep in conversation with them about life. She was passionate about sharing how proud she was of the accomplishments of her children and grandchildren, and she loved talking about her dog, grand-dogs, and great-grand dogs’ latest shenanigans.

Brenda had an adventurous spirit, and she absolutely loved to travel with her family. She was fascinated by, and thoroughly enjoyed, touring different parts of the world where she could learn about the people and cultures of where her travels took her.

One of her favorite hobbies was scrapbooking. She loved documenting her travels, holidays spent with family, and her grandchildren’s activities. She would search high and low for the perfect embellishment to add to her layouts. She liked to say she wasn’t creative, but her family will cherish the beautiful pages she created forever.

Brenda was preceded in death by her father and mother, Kenneth and Shirley Willsey, and her brother Bradley Willsey. She is survived by her husband James Contreras and their fur-baby Sophie; daughter Kristi and husband Ian Hernandez; daughter Traci Martinez and husband Heath Wagner; son Jimmy Contreras; grandchildren Briana, Mateo, Nicholas, and Samantha; sister Carrol Hendley; granddogs Dalinar, Navani, Frida, Georgia, Elle, and Selma; and great granddogs Groot, Rocket, Chewbacca, and Coda.

A memorial service to celebrate Brenda’s life will be held Saturday, January 21, 2023, from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at The Thursday Club, 1224 Santa Barbara Street, San Diego, CA 92107.

In lieu of flowers and to carry out Brenda’s wishes, the family requests donations be made to “Caitie’s Foster Fam,” a non-profit animal rescue. Please go to www.caitiesfosterfam.org to donate, and please note “in loving memory of Brenda Contreras."