ENFIELD, NH — After a brief period of failing health, Brenda Mulherin of Enfield, New Hampshire, quietly passed at the age of 94 in the loving care of hospice attendants at the Jack Byrne Palliative Care Center in Lebanon, on February 10, 2020. She was born Bertha Geneva Mulherin in Island Falls, Maine, on May 7, 1925, the daughter of Patrick J. and Emma (Albert) Mulherin. Brenda attended schools in Atkinson, Maine, before she and many of her family moved to Enfield around 1939. She legally changed her name to Brenda Mulherin, with no middle name, in 1946.

For much of her working life, Brenda was a waitress at several restaurants in the Lebanon and Newport areas. Tenacious and passionate about what she believed, Brenda was not afraid to fight for what she felt was right. She was meticulous about keeping her home neat and tidy, and she raked her beautiful beach on Mascoma Lake, even this past summer. Always proud of her health and staunchly independent, she played croquet and badminton on her lawn well into her 80s, and stayed in her own home until a few days before her passing.

Brenda never married and had no children. However, she and George Alafat were companions until his death, from about 1950 to 1970. Together they operated the Crescent Beach Hotel during the summer seasons at the head of Mascoma Lake in Enfield and the Royale Grill in Wilder, Vermont, during the winter seasons. Then for about 25 years, Brenda and Phillip Briggs, Sr. were companions until his death in 2007. Philip was well known for his hand-painted signs, inspired by the joy he got from watching the wildlife on Mascoma Lake. They both enjoyed traveling and selling his signs at Colburn Park in Lebanon and at various craft shows around New England.

Brenda was predeceased by her parents; and all of her eleven brothers and sisters, including Amelia “Mickey” Suess of Lebanon, Thomas of Plainfield, and Arthur, John “Peanut”, Patricia Seidler, and Patrick, all of Enfield, Alvah of Washington Depot, Connecticut, and from Maine, Walter of Island Falls, David of Dover-Foxcroft, Alma Dickey of Brewer, Lucy Kruck of Milo. She had more than thirty nieces and nephews, twenty of whom still live to think fondly of her as the last of her generation.

Brenda was fortunate for the thoughtful assistance and care she received for many years from her nieces, nephews, and neighbors; with special mention and thanks reserved for Dana and Joanne Arey.

There will be no calling hours. A celebration of Brenda’s life will take place at a later time.