Brenda Louise (Thomas) Drake

Brenda Louise Thomas Drake, 71, of Kannapolis, died on July 21, 2023, at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte following a brief illness.

Brenda was born on August 28, 1951, to the late R.C. and Alma Buchanan Thomas of Spruce Pine, North Carolina. She was a 1968 graduate of Harris High School and lived in Spruce Pine until moving to Cabarrus County in the 1980s, although she would always consider the High Country to be her true home. While working at Travenol Laboratories in Marion, N.C. she met a young chemist from Charlotte named Steve Drake, whom she would marry in 1980. For more than four decades they were continuously at each other’s side through bad times and good, having two children and creating a home that was always filled with laughter and love. After 12 years of staying home to care for her children, Brenda went to work for Cabarrus County Schools as a beloved teacher assistant and bus driver before moving on in 1999 to the City of Concord, where she started as an executive assistant in the Fire Department and made many friends who would stay with her for the rest of her days, including Richard Bergeron, who became a treasured friend to not only Brenda but her entire family as well. She would later move to the City’s Customer Care Center, a job at which she excelled and was adored by both her colleagues and the people she helped until she retired in 2013.

In retirement Brenda waged a winning, inspirational battle against breast cancer and would go on to provide counsel and support to others who were fighting their own cancer battles. She passed her days lending a helping hand to anyone in her circle of friends and family who needed it. The true joy of her life came over the last seven years when she became the grandmother – or “Paco,” as they called her – of five grandchildren who worshiped the ground on which she walked.

In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her sisters Mary Kathryn Thomas and Patty Thomas Goris. Left behind to cherish her memory are her devoted husband of 43 years, Steve Drake of Kannapolis; her son, Alex Drake, his wife Jessica, and their three daughters, Charlotte, Maisie, and Parker Drake, all of Cary; her daughter, Hillary Marsee, her husband Matt, and their two sons, Clark and Harrison Marsee, of Kannapolis; her brother, Bobby Thomas of Mt. Airy, N.C., and a multitude of nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends whom she loved dearly, and many of whom considered her to be a mentor and a maternal figure in their lives as well.

Whitley’s Funeral Home of Kannapolis is assisting the family with arrangements.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you consider a donation to PBS of North Carolina in Brenda’s name.