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Light a Candle
Brenda Eve Dalton was born in January of 1976 and was brought home by her loving, doting parents, to her eagerly waiting older brother Brent who was 2 1/2 years old when she was born. She was his first friend and he tried to show her everything that he could as her older brother. She was stubborn, but fiercely determined in everything she did and she was a great little sister. Soon enough we had a little brother come along and she was the best big sister to Barry. We were now a group; the 3 amigos. We did so much together: we played outside nearly everyday rain, snow, or shine. The three of us were always using our creative imaginations to find adventure. We were never bored.
Brenda went to Dartmouth for elementary school, Columbia for middle school, and then Rangeview for high school. She graduated in 1994. Her hobbies, in high school, were dancing, theater, and anything German. She spoke German quite well and she was highly intelligent and successful academically.
During her junior year in high school Brenda had the honor of being a foreign exchange student. She went to Vienna, Austria for 5 weeks and then her counterpart Judith came to our house for 5 weeks. Brenda and her brother Barry made fast friends with Judith while she was here. Barry played the surrogate little brother role for Judith, who was an only child, while she was here in the States. Brenda loved the experience of living in a foreign country; a memory she cherished.
Brenda started dancing at a very young age and continued with her training through high school. After high school she decided to teach dancing to the next generation. She was a beautiful and graceful dancer. This was ironic as she was quite clumsy when she wasn’t on the dance floor. This just added to her uniqueness. She could do it all: ballet, tap, jazz, modern, lyrical, ballroom, country, Irish step, you name it. She could even twirl and sometimes throw the baton quite well, while dancing. She was able to dance in several lead roles including several pas de deux; she even performed a pas de deux with her older brother Brent.
In addition to dancing, Brenda loved to waterski, scuba dive, and she loved to work on various crafts. Her favorite craft medium was counted cross stitch. She loved to read books by Stephen King, mystery novels, suspense novels, and Tom Clancy novels. One of her favorite books was Jurassic Park. Her favorite TV shows were Survivor and Friends. She loved watching movies of all genres. Her music tastes spanned many types including show tunes, pop, rock, and classical.
Brenda lived in Colorado until she was 26 years old. Then she moved to Las Vegas, Nevada in 2002. She loved the city life and fell in love with Vegas almost immediately. She found her happy place in life, and she made many friends while she was there. Her favorite restaurants in Vegas included “Capo’s”, an Italian style restaurant and speak easy with a secret hidden entrance, and “Hofbräuhaus”, a German style bier hall/restaurant, with live entertainment, community-style seating, and world-famous authentic German beer. She loved the people, the food, and the ambiance of these places. They were both unique, like her, and she enjoyed them very much.
Brenda had many different talents, but her primary career was in the accounting industry. She worked at places like Expedia and MGM Grand to name a few. Some of her favorite jobs included Baskin Robbin’s, making ice cream cakes and scooping ice-cream for eager customers, and Miller’s Dance Studio, teaching young girls to dance. Her all time favorite job was being a manager at Expedia, in the accounting department; she loved working with numbers, spreadsheets, and good people.
In the end, Brenda, lived her life her way, on her terms. She loved her family, she loved her friends, and she loved her life. While she died way too young, she will live on forever in our hearts. Rest in peace Brenda Dalton.
She died on April 30, 2020 and is survived by her parents (Bonnie and Roy), her brothers (Brent and Barry), her nieces and nephews (Tori, Brandon, Tiffany, Casey, Madilyn, and Kendra), aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends too numerous to name.
