Judith Lone Brenes

For most women prior to and extending into the Eisenhower Era the expectation was to marry, have children, and stay home to raise them. Working at a paying job was often culturally limited and limiting.

Judi (Lone) Brenes is a woman who has shown with her vast energy and talent what can be accomplished in spite of gender barriers. She is a heroine and role model not only because of her professional accomplishments, but like many other women, she simultaneously used all of her skills at home, work, and in the community to build and nurture positive relationships. With her upbeat, positive attitude, she has brought her gifts of intellect and social caring to her family, her work place, and to the community at large. She is a heroine because of living a life that showed by example how being positive and caring about others can affect many, many people. 

Born and raised in Seattle, Judi graduated from the University of Washington School of Nursing at the age of 22. As a new RN, she moved to San Francisco to work at San Francisco General Hospital. While on the staff at the General Hospital, she took four months off to work in Mexico as a rural health nurse. Returning from Mexico and back at San Francisco General Hospital, the following year Judi married medical student, Phil Brenes the day after he graduated from medical school in 1966. The newlyweds moved to Chicago, where Judi worked as a clinical instructor of nursing and Phil started his pediatric training. The two returned to San Francisco for Phil’s further training in pediatrics and after a two year stint as a military family, the growing family moved to the Pacific Northwest—initially to Portland for a year before settling in Vancouver, Washington with their three small children.

For the next several years, Judi stayed busy rearing the children while working part-time as a nurse. In 1976, helping out a friend who needed a last minute teaching replacement, Judi became an instructor at Clark College in Vancouver, Washington, teaching both Environmental Health and Basic Health Education. In addition to her teaching responsibilities, Judi helped establish a new Wellness Center for the school. The following year she enrolled at Portland State University and after earning a Master’s of Science and Teaching Degree, started her own Health Education consulting business with colleague Brenda Niblock. In 1984 Judi was awarded the Outstanding Alumnus Award from the School of Health and Physical Education at PSU.

In 1983 she joined Kaiser Permanente in the Northwest Region initially working as a Health Educator. She was asked to help oversee the creation of Kaiser Permanente’s Adolescent Chemical Health Program. As this innovative project came to fruition, Judi moved into the position of Program Director, a position she held for the next six years. In 1990, her career at Kaiser Permanente shifted to Sales & Marketing, where she remained until she was tapped to head the region’s Department of Member Relations and Member Services.

A bout with melanoma in the 1990s involving surgery and then experimental vaccines caused Judi to re-evaluate her life. She retired from paying jobs, choosing to focus on community-based efforts and creative outlets. This led to a long association with the YWCA of Clark County (board member, committee chairperson and Board President), classes at the Oregon College of Arts & Crafts, becoming a Master Gardener, quilt making, and nurturing, tending to, and enjoying a vast network of family and friends. In addition, Judi also served as a volunteer on both Kaiser Permanente’s Member Advisory Board and Southwest Washington Medical Center’s Westside Advisory Committee. In 2005 she became a member of Southwest Washington Medical Center’s Board of Directors and the following year, 2006, she was selected as one of eight Women of Achievement in Clark County.  

Judi continues to involve herself in the community, make quilts, garden, and, along with Phil, travel. She enjoys time with their children Matthew (Charise), Kristin (Matt), and Michelle plus grandchildren Taylor, Claire, Gunnar, Samuel, and Isabella, all of whom reside in the Northwest.

Written by Dr. Phillip M. Brenes, her husband