Mrs. Jones lived on Hazel St., off Groce Meadow Road, in the Mountain View Community of rural Taylors, SC. She died peacefully at home in the morning hours of February 11, 2026.
Mrs. Brenda was born to Walter Andrew Springfield and Kathleen Adair Moore. She was happily married to her husband, Edward Jones, for 36 years and was a member of North Fork Baptist Church. She enjoyed fishing with her husband in her younger years, as well as gardening, and taking care of others.
She is survived by her husband; Edward Jones; her grandchildren, Hunter Martin (Rebecca), Amanda Wheeler (Tylor), Kristy Mills (Chad), Coleman Martin (Harley), and Erica Owens; her great-grandchildren, Colt Mills, Jase Mills, Wyatt Wheeler, Ivy Wheeler, Sadie Martin, Hunter Ingles, Davis Ingles, and Allie Martin; and her sister, Barbara Robertson Crain.
Brenda was preceded in death by her children, Rene Owens and Mike Crenshaw; her parents; her brothers, Wayne Springfield, and R. W. “Dub” Williams; and her sisters, Marylyn “Gert” Hill, and Hazel Lee Williams.
The Funeral, as conducted by Pastor John Parker
“Mrs. Brenda came into this world in 1946 in a time of great national conflict,” Pastor Parker said. “World War II had occupied the minds and hearts of our nation up until September previous, 1945, just six months before that Wednesday, February 6, 1946—that birthday that she just celebrated—when she came into our world. … Those were hard times. They required strong, hard-working, patriotic Americans. That was the world she was born into. Into that world came a gift from God. … She was well acquainted with the hardships and struggles of life in her young years.”
Her mother, Mrs. Kathleen Adair Moore, died when Brenda was 16 years old.
“I was speaking to her sister, today, about that. She was pushed into an adult world—very, very, young—and as a young mother, she worked hard to care and provide for her children but also as a bread-winner. Mr. Ed was telling me she worked in the chicken houses down in Georgia to make ends meet. Folks, that’s hard work.
“Her midlife and golden years have been blessed with her marriage to Mr. Ed. For 36 years they loved one another and their family and enjoyed life together. She and Mr. Ed enjoyed fishing together. They made a couple of trips a year up to Ocracoke, along the Outer Banks, to surf-fish there. That thrills me because I grew up just a few miles south of Ocracoke on Parker’s Island. He said they didn’t catch a lot of fish, but they enjoyed it. That’s why they call it ‘fishing,’ Mr. Ed, instead of ‘catching.’ They also had boats that they used to fish here locally on Lake Robinson and up on Jocassee and other places.
“She became intrigued by genealogy, inspired by learning that she was a direct fourth or fifth great-great-great granddaughter of the local Revolutionary War heroine by the name of Mrs. Dicey Langston, a lady who played a vital role in support of the American forces here in South Carolina during the war for our American independence—which, by the way, we celebrate this year. Mrs. Brenda could tell you all about it. That intrigue carried her on into the study of other genealogical connections and roots. Mr. Ed said she had notebooks filled with her studies. Grandkids, don’t lose those. Hold on to those. It was important to her, and it should be to you.
“Mrs. Brenda had much sorrow and pain in her life: the loss of her mother; the loss of her son, Mike, at such a very young age—devastating losses. The grandkids said she always made special cheesecake, Mike’s favorite, on his birthday, to keep his memory alive. Then the loss of her dear daughter, Renee, in the prime of her life, brought great grief and sorrow to her.”
[Added information: Mrs. Brenda was born Brenda Joyce Williams, although she went by and entered the public school system as “Brenda Joyce Springfield.” She and Mr. James Ernest Crenshaw, her first husband, welcomed two children into the world. Connie Rene Crenshaw (April 13, 1964 to June 10, 2010) was married first to Mr. Jeffrey Martin and then Mr. Tony Owens. She had five children and died at age 46. Her body is buried at Memorial Park South Cemetery in Flowery Branch, Hall County, Georgia. Mr. Michael Allen Crenshaw (September 26, 1968 to January 29, 1989) died at age 20. He was not married and had no children. His body is buried at Faith Temple Church, Taylors, Greenville County, South Carolina.]
“But you, Family, especially you, grandkids, have brought much joy into her life. Her world revolved around you.
“Amanda shared with me how excited the grandkids would get when you were coming to visit your grandmother, your Nanaw. and enjoying her pampering—all the good food and treats that would be waiting, lots of hugs and kisses, special treats from her renown culinary skills were to be enjoyed at her house to the point, the grandkids tell me, that you’d be miserable afterwards from eating so much.
[A note about “Nanaw” from Mrs. Brenda’s grandson, Hunter Martin: “We spelled it ‘Nana,’ but pronounced it ‘Nanaw.’ According to her and my mom, the late Rene Owens, we couldn’t pronounce ‘Nana’ correctly as toddlers and ‘Nanaw’ stuck. We called her ‘Nanaw’ our entire lives.”]
Pastor said, “Let me just share some additional random thoughts that have come from the grandkids, especially. … .”
“She always had some kind of dessert for us.”
“Anybody want to tell me what your favorite of those was? Come on, I want to hear it. What was your favorite Grandma —Nanaw—dessert? (Silence) Huh?”
Then someone said, “We’re not allowed to say.” (Laughter)
Pastor said, “You’re not allowed to say … aah. (Laughter from the grandkids.) Tell me later, OK?”
“We’ll have to wait till after the service,” a grandchild said.
“She loved playing ‘Phase 10’ and ‘Skip-Bo.’ And how we tried hard to beat her, but most of the time she won. But she’d give us a high-five and say, ‘Good game,’ with a smile.”
“She loved her grandkids so much and was able to be at all four of our weddings.”
“That’s pretty impressive,” Pastor said.
“She loved her great-grandkids also very much, and would have been welcoming her eighth great-grand this spring.”
“Wow,” Pastor said.
“This past Thanksgiving, all but one of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren spent the day together with her and enjoyed a meal at the Lil Rebel. It was the last time any of us would see her. Sweet, knowing we were all together then.”
“Her picture, which you have in your bulletin today, is from that day. And you can just see in that picture how happy she was,” Pastor said.
“‘The main thing, making it easier on us … ”
“This is from the grandkids, I love this,” Pastor said.
“ … is knowing she’s in heaven with both of her children whom she’s missed so much.”
“She loved gardens, redbirds … “
“And I think I love the way you’re celebrating that on the casket,” Pastor said. A red bird was part of the flowers draped across the casket.
“ … Anytime we see a red bird now, we know it’ll be her, telling us, ‘Hi’.”
“That’s a great way to look at it,” Pastor said. “Another memory:”
“Her waiting on the porch for us to show up. Gardening, flowers, canning things. Life was tough, growing up, and a lot of times they had only beans and cornbread to eat. Had to walk two miles to get to the school bus.”
“And it was probably uphill both ways, right?” Pastor said. [Laughter]
“Around a bunch of curves,” said Brenda’s sister, Barbara, laughing. She and Brenda walked to the bus together as six- and eight-year-olds.
“Yes,” Pastor said.
“Her teaching us to make peanut butter balls.”
“That’s good, a big memory,” Pastor said. “I like this one:”
“Digging up worms around the house to go fishing with.”
“‘She loved yard sales, finding stuff there for her grandkids.”
“And that concludes their list of some of their thoughts and memories,” Pastor said. “Wow. And you know, folks. All of that tells us that her home-going has left a huge hole in your lives, no question about it. And you may feel the twinge of loneliness, and I know you feel that sorrow of her loss. But I would encourage you this afternoon to take comfort in the reality, as one of you said, ‘We know she’s in heaven. We know where she is.’ Amanda, at my request, shared with me her spiritual journey, her faith, and the certainty that she’s in heaven today. That comforts me, and I know that comforts you. And, folks, that’s all because of God’s amazing grace, amen? She’s not in heaven because of her goodness or her good deeds, but she’s in heaven because of God’s amazing grace.
"Brother Williams is going to come and lead us in that song we know and love so well, ‘Amazing Grace.’"
Mr. Williams walked to the front and said, “We’re going to sing this a-cappella.” He led the gathering in “Amazing Grace.”
Amazing grace! how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch; like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.
’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed!
When we’ve been there ten thousand years,
Bright shining as the sun,
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
Than when we first begun.
The Lord hath promised good to me,
His word my hope secures;
He will my shield and portion be
As long as life endures.
“Thank you so much for helping me out. We will definitely miss Brenda,” Mr. Williams, the Joneses’ fellow church member, said.
“Well, I think she’d be happy with that,” Pastor said. “It’s easy in times like this to feel the loss, and I know you do, maybe even to feel like you’ve been abandoned by one you counted on so much—a wonderful mother, grandmother, wife, sister. But we’re not abandoned. The fact is we’re not alone. We’re not without comfort.
“I want to use a little passage of Scripture from the Book of Isaiah that’s a bit obscure, one that I’ve preached from on Mother’s Days. It’s appropriate today. Israel was feeling abandoned, God’s people, God’s children. Isaiah 49, verse13 was God’s word to those who feel so sad, so abandoned, is ‘Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the Lord hath comforted his people,’—it’s the Lord that gives us comfort—‘and he will have mercy upon his afflicted.’ But God’s children, Zion, said, ‘The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me.’ God’s response to them is ‘Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget you.’ And this is the most powerful part of it. This is Isaiah writing 700 years before Christ is to go to that cross to be crucified for our sins. ‘Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.’
“What is God saying to us? ‘I can’t forget you. I have you written in the palms of my hands.’ Whose nail prints have your name on them. And our Lord Jesus will bring comfort to you, for His grace, that we just sang about, that got her home, is the same grace that will take us home.
“From the Gospel, words that you ought to hear, these are our Lord’s words: John’s Gospel, chapter 14, ‘Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in Jesus, me, He said. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself;’—that’s what happened with Mrs. Brenda—that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know.’ And Thomas, His disciple, the doubter said, ‘Lord, we don’t know where you’re going; and how can we know the way?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life and the only way to the Father: no man comes to the Father, except by me.’
“I am here to tell you today, my dear friends, the same Lord Jesus that got her home—there was a verse of ‘Amazing Grace’ we didn’t sing, and it says, ‘Through many dangers, toils, and snares, I have already come—Brenda’s already come. It’s grace that brought her safe thus far, and grace has taken her home.
“Jesus said, ‘I go to prepare that place for you, and if I go, I’ll come and take you home.’ Amen? And He did; He did. Brother Ed, He did. But the good thing is there’s a mansion, a place there for you with her, and for us. I want to make it, don’t you? Let’s make it by His grace.
“Let’s pray: Father, our hearts are aching this afternoon as we think about this precious grandmother, sister, loved one, friend, someone we’ve known and loved through life. We need your help; we need your grace. And, Lord, the good thing is You promised to give us that grace. So, today, Father, we find comfort in the reality that the grace that got Mrs. Brenda through the many dangers, toils, and snares, and took her home will also get us through what we face and what we are dealing with right now, Lord, even the grief we are dealing with right now. And, Father, we believe that grace will also lead us home. And when we’ve been there 10,000 years, we’ll forget the struggles. It will be wonderful. Comfort our hearts with this thought, Lord, as we go to the cemetery to lay her earthly remains to rest there. May your grace and comfort go with us, and we’ll praise you for it, in Jesus’ name, amen.”
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