Brenda (Wadsworth) Schumann

Brenda (Wadsworth) Schumann of Des Moines passed away peacefully on June 19, 2025, with family at her side. True to the way she lived each day, the last word she spoke was “love.”

Brenda was born November 25, 1940, in Fostoria, Ohio, to Ben and Maxine Wadsworth. She grew up on the shores of Lake Erie, which inspired her lifelong love of being near water. She graduated from Bowling Green State University with a degree in education and started teaching. She was a lifelong educator in and out of classrooms.

In 1964, while on a blind date with another man, she met Air Force officer Carl Schumann.  After a brief long-distance courtship, they married on June 11, 1965. While stationed in England, they welcomed children Carl Jr. in 1967 and Jennifer in 1969.

The family eventually settled in Ames, where Brenda’s focus was on raising her children. As she transitioned back into working part-time around their schedules, she held various retail, government, and real estate jobs. Her true passion remained education, and she fed that through volunteering in retirement with Headstart, Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), and English language learners.

In more recent years, she logged hundreds of thousands of steps knocking on doors on behalf of many Democratic candidates – from the smallest local races to presidential hopefuls. She supported candidates who would focus on education, social justice, and sensible gun control. At a Gun Sense rally in 2019, her comments included showing off the “disarm hate” tattoo on her arm (a souvenir from a Moms Demand Action convention two years earlier), prompting U.S. Sen. and presidential hopeful Amy Klobuchar to call her a “bad ass.” Brenda enjoyed the media attention she got in the wake of that comment.

She also logged thousands of steps as a late-in-life 5k runner. It started when she bid on what she thought was a spa package in a charity auction and realized it was an opportunity to join a running group. Not one to let something she’d spent money on go to waste; she ran her first 5k in 2015. Her ovarian cancer diagnosis in March kept her from fully doing her favorite race – the Grand Blue Mile in downtown Des Moines in April – but she did stand up from her wheelchair to cross the finish line on foot.

That’s the spirit and grit that earned Brenda many comparisons to the Energizer bunny. She and Carl spent many weekends swing dancing and enjoying other ballroom dances. They also volunteered for several years at the Des Moines Arts Festival, and Brenda loved doing artist relations. She hosted bridge and 500 Clubs and created many traditions for her family – from her German pancakes, New Years Day good luck lunches, April Fools prank dinners, and trays upon trays of sugar cookies to decorate each Christmas.

And she loved to travel. When their grandsons turned 10, Brenda and Carl treated them each to the trip of his choice, and both selected a train trip from the Midwest to San Fransciso.

Generally, Carl preferred to stay home and pet sit as Brenda enjoyed annual trips back to Lake Erie for family reunions filled with game nights and Jolly Roger’s fried perch; yearly trips with her college roommates; and international adventures with Jennifer to New Zealand, Italy, Iceland, Portugal, and Puerto Rico. She also had travels with purpose, including mission trips to El Salvador and joining like-minded activists at Moms Demand Action conventions.

Left to carry on her legacy are her husband Carl of Des Moines; son Carl Jr., daughter-in-law Karen, and grandson Andrew, all of Marlborough, MA; daughter Jennifer and grandson Brendan of Des Moines; sister Sal Wadsworth of Lakewood, CO; brother Stan (Meghan) Wadsworth of Towson, MD; sister-in-law Bobbie Mock of Indianapolis, IN and numerous cousins, nieces, and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents, nephew Herbie, sister-in-law Alice Ogden, and brother-in-law Joe Schumann.

A celebration of life will be Saturday, July 26, 2025, from 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. at Merle Hay Funeral Home, 4400 Merle Hay Rd, Des Moines, Iowa 50310. In the meantime, the family invites you to be like Brenda by helping someone, hosting a game night, and enjoying some ice cream. In lieu of flowers, she asked that donations go to Our Sister Parish in El Salvador, Everytown for Gun Safety, Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence or to Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance.