Brenda Kay Drain, known to everyone as "Punkin",  was born on September 18, 1947 in Stephenville, Texas to Otis and Mary Drain.  She passed away on February 2, 2026 at the age of 78.   Her health started declining when she fell and broke her hip in February 2025.  In and out of hospitals with multiple surgeries and rehabs eventually led to toxic infections resulting in a massive stroke.

Brenda graduated from Sherman High School, 1965 and worked as a legal secretary for years.  She spent her entire life in Sherman, Texas, and never felt the need to be anywhere else.

Punkin was absolutely full of sweetness-unless you messed with her.  Then you would meet the other side.  She could be stubborn as hell, like the rest of her family, and she made no apologies for it.  She knew who she was.

She was the best cook in our family, and very possibly in the whole county.  Her kitchen was where people gathered and where nobody left hungry.  She cooked generously and with care, not for praise but because feeding people was how she showed Love.

Punkin loved crossword puzzles, just like her mother, and she had a huge vocabulary.  Words mattered to her.  Precision mattered.  She enjoyed getting things right-whether it was a recipe, a memory, or the exact word that fit.

Punkin's favorite meal was fried potatoes with onions and cornbread.  She became addicted to luxury chocolate which her nephew (Chad) kept her in supply.  She loved dogs because of their unconditional love that probably ranked first compared to family and friends if it was to be known.

She was the family historian, the one who remembered who came before and how things really were.  As the oldest of her siblings, she carried those stories responsibly and kept the family's past intact.

She paid attention.  She noticed details others missed.  She listened more than she spoke, but when she spoke, people listened.

Brenda is survived by sisters Myrtle Reid and Judith Drain.  Nephews William Plumlee (Napolean).  Chad Beale (Edy), Adam Beale, Jody Dyer (Darci), Jared Drain, Otis Drain III, and niece Shawndalin Phillips.  Also, Kevin and Connie Rohde, Keith, Cheree, and Morgan Steward who were all an integral part of Punkin's life and several loving cousins, friends and neighbors.

She was preceded in death by her parents, sister Pat Plumlee, brother Otis Drain, Jr., brother-in-laws Melvin Plumlee and William Reid, sister-in-laws Kathleen Beale and Brenda Drain.

Her passing leaves a real absence.  With her goes a living connection to our family's history-and a kitchen that will never quite be the same.

Brenda (Punkin) will be deeply missed.

Myrtle and Judith would like to thank Brenda's home health nurse Amanda Bell Sloan (Pilot  Point Health Care) for her years of caring for our sister and nurse Whitney Williams.