Marlene Joan Brokaw

Marlene Joan Brokaw passed away peacefully on June 19, 2021 at Birchwood Nursing Home in the loving care of Hospice at 1:15 am. She was born in Holyoke, MA on Jan 5,1935. She was the loving daughter of the late Margaret (Brennan) Shea and Bartholomew Shea. She was the loving wife of the late George Monroe Haenny and Stanley Penn Brokaw. She was educated in the Holyoke Public School system and graduated from Holyoke High School. She then went on to be a secretary in Downtown Cincinnati at the Carew Tower. Later on, she worked for Gibson Greeting Cards in Cincinnati. Marlene is survived by her loving children, Kevin Haenny (Nancy Boyd) and Darlene and husband Rick Gillenwater. She is also survived by her grandchildren, Christina and Jonathan Eck, Eric Haenny, Brittany Gillenwater and Julia Gillenwater and her great grandchild, EJ Haenny. Marlene is also the loving sister of the late Thomas J. Shea, Geneiveve Miller and Constance Von Hoene. Marlene's family meant the world to her and she always had stories to tell about her parents, siblings, and children. She loved gardening, cooking for her family, watching classic movies, walking by the ocean and traveling the world.

"Play, smile, think of me, pray for me, Let my name be ever the household word that it always was, I have only slipped away into the next room, Everything remains as it was. How we shall laugh at the trouble of parting, when we meet again. Speak of me in the easy way which you always used. Put no sorrow in your tone. Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes that we enjoyed together. Let it be spoken without effort. Life means all that it ever meant. It is the same as it ever was" (Irish Funeral Prayer).