Ms. Brenda Sue Fuson, 74 of Livingston, New Jersey, passed away peacefully on Sunday, May 18, 2025 in hospice care at the Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center beside her loving son.

Born in Vincennes, Indiana, she was the daughter of Ruth (Robinson) Fuson and the late Robert Fuson. Brenda left home to study piano performance at DePauw University and later earned a master’s degree in music education from Indiana University.

After college, her adventurous spirit took her to Bangkok, Thailand, where she met and married her first husband, Dave Lundberg, a diplomat with USAID. Brenda and Dave spent years together in Bangkok and Islamabad, Pakistan and had two children.

After separating from Dave, Brenda returned to Indiana, earned her master’s, and moved to Glenview, Illinois to begin working in elementary and middle school music education. She was a talented and beloved teacher, working at a number of schools in Chicago’s northwest suburbs, including Avoca West Elementary and the Marie Murphy School. Over three decades, she instilled a love of music in hundreds of young people in the Chicago area. Every Christmas, she brought home an embarrassingly large bag full of gifts from her students.

Brenda had a stunning voice—some of her children’s fondest memories are of sitting around her small, upright piano in the dining room and singing songs together. As a mother, wife, and friend, she was much like her singing: bright, beautiful, and often overflowing. She embraced a silly humor and had a sharp wit. Surviving Brenda are her children, Kristen Birkland of Reston, Virginia and John Lundberg of Maplewood, New Jersey; her grandchildren Ryan and Kelsey Birkland and Elle Lundberg; her brother Jim Fuson and his wife Linda; her sister Kathy Hogan and her husband Tom; and her mother Ruth Fuson.

ARRANGEMENTS: Brenda’s family will hold a memorial service on Monday, June 9th, 2025 at 1 PM at the Forest Hill Cemetery in Greencastle, Indiana. Assisting the family with the arrangements is the Bousley Funeral Home in Coatesville. In lieu of flowers, expressions of sympathy may be made in Brenda’s memory to the Music Cares Foundation at savethemusic.org.