Brenda Catherine Daly Zwiefelhofer was born in San Francisco on June 5th, 1947, and passed away on June 5th, 2024, after a short battle with cancer. 

Brenda was adopted at just two days old by Con and Barbara Daly. She attended St. Bernard’s Elementary and High School until the age of 17, and then finished her senior year at the Dominican in San Rafael, California. After high school, Brenda attended the University of Oregon to earn her teaching credential. While she was home on summer break and cruising the Eureka strip with friends, Brenda met the man of her dreams; Jerry Zwiefelhofer. 

She was so smitten with him that she returned to Eureka and finished her teaching credential at Humboldt State University where she would go on to lead a successful teaching career of 28 years, touching hundreds of children’s lives.

In 1971 she married Gerald Zwiefelhofer and they quickly settled down in Eureka and had two children. Wendy Marie was born in 1973 and Michael Anthony followed in 1975. Together, Brenda and Jerry would spend much of their early years building the house of their dreams which they would live in until her passing. 

After retirement, Brenda found a variety of ways to keep herself busy. She became a Mary Kay representative, she volunteered at St. Joseph’s Hospital in the gift shop, she helped count donation money at church, she read news stories for the blind on the radio, and read the homily for the congregation at Sacred Heart Church. Brenda was very involved with the church and particularly enjoyed planning and participating in the annual Cursillo.  

One of her greatest loves was her two grandchildren: Liam and Julian. She spent the early part of their lives helping to take care of them, shuttle them to activities, as well as volunteer in their classrooms. 

Brenda was a wildly artistic soul, and she expressed her artistic side through many activities from painting with pastels to performing in both song and dance.  She had a love of music and sang with the Humboldt Choral for years. As a lifelong piano player, she volunteered her time after retirement to play for the elementary school children’s choir. She never lost her zest for learning and continued to learn new languages, first Russian and lastly Spanish. 

In 1994, Brenda and Jerry became a host family for a Russian exchange student named Natasha where they also forged a close relationship with Natasha’s parents from afar. This relationship brought about two trips to Russia, a solo trip to attend Natasha’s wedding and a second trip to share the experience with Jerry.

Brenda and Jerry loved finding new adventures. They attended the Jazz Festival faithfully, even traveling to Medford and Sacramento. They were season ticket holders for the 49ers for over 30 years as well as loyal fans of North Coast Repertory and Ferndale Repertory Theatre. They would routinely travel down to San Francisco for the Ballet and the Symphony.

In her later years, her passion was both traveling and donating her free time.  She belonged to both the American Business Women’s  Association (ABWA) as well as the California Retired Teachers Association (CalRTA) and was a huge supporter of “Relay for Life” for well over 20 years, raising thousands of dollars for cancer research.  When she wasn’t volunteering her time, her and Jerry were gallivanting all over the world from cruise ships to food tours across Italy. 

Brenda is survived by her loving husband Jerry, her daughter Wendy and her husband Eric, her son Michael, her grandchildren Liam and Julian, her sister Vicky Hatherill, her brother Randy Moschetti, plus numerous special nieces and nephews whom she loved dearly. She also had the privilege of meeting her sister Constance Segan later in life, as well having a chance to talk on the phone to her brothers Robert and Richard. 

A “Celebration of Life” is planned for Brenda on Saturday, August 3rd at 1pm at Sacred Heart Church with a reception to follow in the parish center. All are invited and welcome to come celebrate her amazing life. 

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The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Brenda’s loved ones. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here.