Brenda Gay Melendez

BRENDA GAY MELENDEZ, aged 64, passed away peacefully on Friday, June 13, 2025, following a courageous battle with interstitial lung disease (ILD). She was the devoted wife of Michael Anthony Melendez, whose love and support remained steadfast throughout her journey.

Born in Terre Haute, IN, Brenda was a daughter of the late Robert Franklin Hensley and Anna Louise Jackson Hensley. Brenda had lived in Aiken since 1977. She worked in records management for SRMC.

If you loved Brenda, you got the whole package; her whole heart, her radiant smile. There was never enough ice for her cocktails, never enough time in the water and never enough sass in the world to match hers.

Brenda was a woman who lived boldly and loved deeply. whether floating in her beloved hurricane cove or sun soaked on her dock. She was never far from water and her famous last words always to Mike just 20 more minutes the suns still out.

She was many things a devoted wife, a fiercely loyal friend, a loving mother, a proud grandmother and a great grandmother.

She lived her life with the perfect amount of charm and sass, grace and grit. If you crossed her you’d get a sweet smile and a side of bless your heart served on a silver platter.

She loved to sit around a table and play games with friends and family whether it was spades, Mexican dominos or anything that involved winning. Brenda could outplay, outwit and outlast just about anyone. Clever, competitive and always just one sharp remark away from a mic drop.

She had a way of making you seen and heard with no judgement but if you were misbehaving, slightly scorched. She was a force to be reckoned with and a women to truly admire. She was sometimes in Hankinsonville, sometimes the lovely Scarlett showed up but most of the time she was just Brenda and that was more than enough. If there was a gathering you’d find Skeet doing all the cooking but if someone complimented the food, Brenda would smile and say “I slaved all day on that” whether or not she lifted a single spoon.

She loved being a lady and she played the part beautifully – high heels with a handbag for every occasion with a little Crystal Lite.

She found the love of her life a bit later in life but when she found him it was magic. Michael Melendez, you were and will always be her prince charming. Brenda had the most forgiving heart, her stories, her wit and her one of a kind spirit will echo through generations.

There will never be another Scarlett not in this lifetime. Now we know she’s in Heaven breathing easy and floating peacefully in her eternal cove. We know this too; Skeet was waiting there with a mimosa in hand ready to welcome her home.

Surviving, in addition to her loving husband, Mike, include her daughter, Maggie Hankinson, Evans, GA; her son, David James Hankinson, Aiken; her grandchildren, Summer Hankinson, Jackson Hankinson and Mayson Hankinson; her great grandson, Sterling Hankinson; her brothers and sisters, John Hensley, Mary Esther, Steve Hensley, Mark Hensley, Norma Davis (Henry) and Kely Palmer. In addition to her parents, Brenda was preceded in death by a sister, Lee Anna Bourget.

The family will receive friends Friday afternoon June 20th beginning at 3 o’clock at Shellhouse – Rivers Funeral Home.

A service Celebrating Brenda’s Life will follow at 4 o’clock at the funeral home.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be directed to the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation (www.pulmonaryfibrosis.org) .

SHELLHOUSE – RIVERS FUNERAL HOME, 715 EAST PINE LOG RD., AIKEN, SC