Denise R. McNamee

Des Moines

Denise R. McNamee, 58, died Tuesday, July 28, 2015 at the Bright Kavanagh House. A Celebration service will be held 3 p.m., Saturday, August 1, 2015 at McLaren’s Resthaven Chapel, 801 - 19th Street, West Des Moines. Visitation will be from 2 p.m. until service time Saturday at McLaren’s.

Denise’s passion for writing became her career and she enjoyed her positions in journalism with the Altoona Herald and the Business Record. She obtained her dream and moved to a beautiful lake house in the Ozarks and owned and wrote her very own magazine called “The Lake Magazine”.

Denise enjoyed reading, writing, country music, singing karaoke, cooking and spending time with her family. She loved to entertain, whether it be at her house on the lake during the warmer months or in Iowa during the holidays.

Denise is remembered by her daughter, Nichole (Gene) Shoykhet; son, Benjamin (Gabi) Innis; step-daughter, Tanya (Mike) Zaffuto; three grandchildren; four step-grandchildren; sister, Terri (Frank) Kocurek; brother, Mike Anderson; and many much-loved nieces, nephews and friends. She was preceded in death by her parents; brother, Todd Anderson; sister, Sandi Holmes and husband, Ed McNamee.

Denise was always one to help others, therefore the family decided to pay it forward and donate her brain tissue to the Mayo Clinic for research on Corticobasal Degeneration in hopes for a cure.

Memorial contributions may be directed to the family to be designated for neurological research.

Online condolences may be expressed at www.mclarensresthavenchapel.com.

The family wishes to thank the staff at Bright Kavanagh House for the compassionate care they provided Denise.