Brenda Ann (Stewart) Bunting, age 70, passed away after a long battle with cancer on Friday, December 23, 2016 in Plano, Texas. She was born in Charleston, Illinois on March 22, 1946 to Elmo and Helen (Spies) Stewart. She grew up in Tuscola, Illinois where she graduated from Tuscola Community High School in 1964. She attended Eastern Illinois University for three years before marrying the love of her life, Marcus Bunting on June 10, 1967 in Tuscola. As newlyweds, they moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico where she continued her education at the University of New Mexico, from which she received her B.S. in Biology.
Brenda began her working career at Stretch and Sew in 1973. She then moved on to work at J. C. Penny Design Center as a secretary. This was her first exposure to the world of design, a world that she would embrace with all her boundless energy and enthusiasm. After the birth of their daughter, Liza, Brenda decided to leave her job to become a homemaker. Following a six year hiatus, Brenda pursued her true passion of interior design by accepting a position with the Interior Design Center. It was there, over a number of years, that she learned the essentials of design work. She then left the design center and began working with Parks Custom Builders where she remained for the rest of her career. During this time, she owned and managed her own design business, Interiors and More, making a host of clients happy with individual custom design services on projects across the country.
She had a love for sports cars and was a long-time member and past president of the New Mexico Corvette Association. Brenda loved socializing with friends, traveling, reading, gardening, and spending time with her family. She had a wonderful laugh that could light up a room. Brenda will be dearly missed by many.
She is survived by her loving husband of 49 years, Marcus Bunting; daughter, Liza Piwonski and husband Andrew of Frisco, Texas; grandchildren, Avery and Marek Piwonski; brother, Phillip Brent Stewart of Sadorus, Illinois; sister, Jennifer Ellen Bridgett of Champaign, Illinois; and a host of other loving family and friends.
Brenda was preceded in death by her parents and brother, David Elmo Stewart.
The family will hold a memorial service from 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm on Saturday, February 4th at the Albuquerque Balloon Museum.
The family would like to extend their heartfelt gratitude to Dr. Karen Finkelstein and her staff at Southwest Gynecologic Oncology for their compassion and loving care.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Brenda’s honor to the Gynecological Cancer Awareness Project at www.theGCAP.org or to www.gofundme.com/chemobagsinmemoryofmom, a wonderful fundraising site that puts together chemo bags that are delivered to the clinic where Brenda received her treatments.