Renee L. Brooks

of El Paso and a member of the Catholic Church. Renee was a loving wife, mother, and grandmother. From a young age, she lived a life full of excitement. She loved adventure and never shied away from any physical challenge. She reveled in racing dirt bikes and riding horseback all over the hard-baked desert sands of El Paso and southern New Mexico. Living life on the wild side wasn’t her only joy—she was also an avid and accomplished bowler. From bowling camps to team tournaments, she toiled non-stop and was so talented that she competed in individual tournaments from a very young age.

A force of nature—a massive tornado in a tiny body—her willingness to work hard sparked within her a competitiveness in her which drove her to a life of unique accomplishments. Under her father’s direction, she taught herself how to hula from watching old Merrie Monarch Festival tapings. Together, they soon created a Halau, Halau Ha’aheo Aloha Dance Troupe in the mid-1970s, through which Renee became a star. Still, hula dancing was only one of her many passions in life. Along with that great Aloha she had for dancing, she loved to share her native Hawaiian culture, not only with her children, but with so many others in her hometown of El Paso, so distant from the island upon which her father was born. In the spirit of ohana, she welcomed just about anyone and everyone into the wonderful world of her culture’s expression of joy, life, love, and family through dance…just as her father had taught her.

In 1987, while working in a parking garage in downtown El Paso, she met a random delivery guy who would later become the love of her life. She would go on to marry Benjamin F. Brooks III and create the family they had both dreamed of from childhood. Their love truly was one for the ages, as it never waned—through the best of good times and the most devastating of the worst, the ups and the downs, and in the most devastating of sickness and in the best of health. Their love never once faded and was the very model of selflessness.

Whatever life threw at Renee, she never let it get to her. She always pulled herself up from the dust of defeat stronger and taller than she was before. This, too, she ingrained in her children. Renee was the most bad-a$$, no bull-taking, stubborn, hardheaded Hawaiian woman you could ever meet, you definitely never wanted to end up on her bad side or hurt anyone she loved. Even with the accident that took nearly everything from her in 2011, she remained a firecracker who would serve you with unfiltered truth without hesitation or apology. Behind the tower of strength she presented to the world, though, was she was a tremendously loving and caring human who had a smile and laugh that would light up any room. She was the kindest, least judgmental person you could ever meet. So many of her friends and family found peace and support in her mere presence.

Renee’s most defining characteristic, however—especially right up until the end—was that she always fought. She fought hard, and never once gave up on anything in her life. Renee loved hard too. Her husband, children, and grandchildren were the core of her giant heart.

Renee is survived by her husband Benjamin Franklin Brooks III, her eldest daughter Krystal D. Arredondo, Leimomi La Juan Kamehaiku Brooks Reyes, her son Benjamin Franklin Brooks IV and their spouses Sergio Luis Arredondo, Jaime Reyes, and Diana Elizondo. She has five beautiful grandchildren, Ezra Marie Noelani Arredondo, Elijah Luis Kekoa Arredondo, Ethan Ikaika Reyes, Joaquin Koamalu Reyes, and Keilani Azaela Brooks. Her parents Ruth Joy Kamehaiku (De Vinney) and Harry H. Kamehaiku predeceased her, as well as her mother-in-law Rosemary K. Brooks, but her father-in-law Benjamin Franklin Brooks Junior survives, as does the whole extended ohana she gathered around her in life, consisting of aunties, uncles, sisters- and brothers-in-law, and a massive slew of nieces and nephews.

Aloha oe Renee, aloha au iā ‘oe i ka mahina a i hope! (We love you to the moon and back!)

Visitation will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Tuesday, November 15, 2022 with a Vigil Service at 12

p.m. at Evergreen Funeral Home with services concluding after the visitation.