Charlene Middlebrook

On Wednesday morning, Dec. 23, 2015, my wife and best friend, Charlene Middlebrook, lost her long and courageous battle with cancer.

As with everything she did, Charlene handled the cancer and a subsequent stroke, with grace, courage, total resolve and of course her humor and her smile, once again being the hero in our family.

Charlene and I met here in Tahoe 35 years ago and soon discovered that we had both grown up in Southern California about two miles apart. We worked hard, played hard, made many friends, raised our two sons and enjoyed every single minute of living in this beautiful place.

During the summers, Charlene took “The Boys” to every trail, lake and stream in the basin, taught them how to ski, coached them in soccer and was an unwavering advocate for their education. There are many, many teachers and counselors in our school district who are more than well aware of Charlene’s thoughts on education.  The result of that is two very successful and accomplished young men.

Charlene was a hair stylist for almost 40 years and made many great friends with her business. We joked that when I was doing news at the radio station that about half of my news came from her shop, which she shared with her friends, Joanne, Roxanne, Pam and Leo.

Charlene was preceded in death by her parents, Ada Lee and Charlie Henderson of Paramount, Calif. She is survived by her beloved sons, Devin (Ashley) and Grant (Kelsey), and my son, Matt (Lisa) and my daughter, Monica (Alex), and our grandchildren; Julia, Brady, Grace, Claire, and Della. She also leaves behind her sister, Lynette of Irvine, Calif., and her brother Rick (Margaret) of Hollydale, cousin and best friend Judy Lampshire of Carson City and her husband, Mike, and their children and grandchildren.

We want to thank the staff of Renown Cancer Institute, but most important, the staff, physicians and nurses of Barton Memorial Hospital and Barton Skilled Nursing. Their care, dedication and kindness added time and quality to Charlene’s life. We know that she touched your hearts as you touched hers. Special thanks to Angie, Jill, Christine, Gil, June, Kelly, Heather, Ibeth, Patrick and Amy, and Jason Collin for always being there for us. You will always be like family. I also want to thank Barton Hospice for getting us through Charlene’s final day. And a very special thanks to the man who could always get Charlene to smile through this, our friend Dr. Henning Mehrens.

Charlene always saw the good in everything and everyone. I will miss her kindness, her strength, her love, her humor, her smile … and those incredibly beautiful green eyes.

Please remember Charlene by donating whatever you can to the American Cancer Society.

We will not have services at this time, but may have a memorial this summer.

— Paul Middlebrook