On Wednesday October 6th, 2021 Brenda Jean Jarboe Cullison Guy, 81 of Leonardtown, MD left this earthly world after an 18-year battle with multiple myeloma cancer and recent sepsis infection at Holy Cross Hospital, Silver Springs, Maryland.
Brenda was born to late Parran Benedict Jarboe and Rita Alyce Jarboe on June 2, 1940 at home (the corner of Villa Road and Route 5) in St. Inigoes, and baptized at St. Peter Clavers Catholic Church, St. Inigoes. The family then moved “north” to Great Mills where her father was busy with three building projects; their new home, the new Holy Face Church and the new Naval Air Station at Patuxent River.
In Great Mills, Brenda made many lifelong relationships with friends that continued from grade school at Little Flower School to St. Michael’s High School where she graduated in May 1958.
Growing up at Holy Face Church she attended church services, dances and other activities where she met John “Johnny” Norman Cullison, Jr. They attended many church related events. They were planning an October 1959 wedding when the plans by two mothers went a little array and the young couple came up with the necessary money for the banns to be read to allow them to marry on August 1st, 1959 at Holy Face Church with the reception to follow at the Little Flower School Gymnasium. The young couple headed off on a honeymoon at the Natural Bridge in Virginia.
Brenda had started her first job straight out of high school working for Senator J. Frank Raley at his insurance agency as a receptionist. Brenda resigned from the agency and prepared for being a full-time wife and mother, taking on the role of homemaker. While raising three young children under four years old, she assisted her husband to build a cape cod style home on two acres of well wooden land they cleared. While her husband was at work she would bundle up her children and go to their lot and work. Once the house was under construction she would go there to paint and do what she could. Sometime while there her cousin Robert’s wife Lillianne Jarboe would bring her children over and stay so Brenda wasn’t alone (there weren’t any cell phones back then). Once the main floor of the house was finished enough for living, they moved their family in, and once again in 1963 enjoyed the luxury of indoor plumbing.
With the new luxuries Brenda embraced her new life of homemaker. Come spring she and Johnny would plant a garden. While Johnny would oversee the garden, for the most part Brenda would pick and process it. She canned and froze everting she could, ensuring on her chart of food she maintained to have enough to feed her family until the next year’s harvest. When her husband took a notion to go fishing, she would drive down to meet his boat and unload the catch bringing it home to ice down, while he went back for more. When Johnny finished fishing for the day, he would come home and clean the day’s catch, but it was Brenda that had to wash wrap and freeze it all. One summer the freezers were nearly full and Johnny caught too many “blues” so Brenda went through her cookbooks and found a recipe to can fish. So, she canned blue fish for anything that called for “tuna.” When Johnny decided to butcher and later just buy a butchered hog Brenda had his back as she made sausage and scrapple and processed all the meat for the freezer; and deal with all the grease that got on everything during the processing.
When her older children were in school she took the substitute teacher’s course and started “subbing” at the elementary school with Leonardtown, Piney Point, Great Mills, Town Creek, Benjamin Banker, Hollywood, Carver, Park Hall and Lexington Park; being called randomly to work. Once her youngest was in school, she added Leonardtown, Esperanza, Margaret Brent and Spring Ridge to the list she was willing to work. By the time her children were approaching high school she limited herself to mainly the new Leonardtown Middle and Leonardtown High Schools. She was very popular with the school teachers and staff and worked nearly full time. However not all the students appreciated Mrs. Collison’s repour with the staff, as they would very rarely get something past her. It was during this time that she would take the album of Criss’s decorated cakes to obtain orders to help Criss earn money for her college education; and sometimes even delivered them. When the schools were open and the weather too bad to drive, she would hop on the school bus with her children to go to work.
When Johnny got interested in camping, he borrowed a homemade baby blue and black canvas tent trailer. For this trip and all the other annual week-long vacations Johnny took care of preparing the truck and trailer mechanically, as well as wood, and gas appliances. But it was up to Brenda, with master lists to collect and pack enough clothes, food, linens, pharmacy anything else her family would need. For that one week a year Johnny “cooked” breakfast and she was left with all the cleaning and other meals assisted by her children. Once the trip was over Brenda had to put things away in preparation for next year.
When her children went to public school, Brenda enrolled her children in CCD (catholic Sunday school) at Holy Face Church. Since the classes only lasted an hour and there was a gas crisis, Brenda volunteered to teach. She was prepared for teaching what she had as a child, “The Baltimore catechism”, she adjusted. In fact, so intent on being at Sunday school on time she did a “California” stop, before right on red was legal, in front of a state trooper, receiving a ticket, and was late.
Johnny found things he needed to do like having his sons in cub scouts and boy scouts. Brenda became a den mother, he the cub scout master for the pack; and later he became scout master for the troop, she was the woman behind the man who supported her man. When the boys joined the Second District Fire Department and Rescue Squad, their home was opened for the on-call crew to sleep. She would work at the ticket booth for rides for many years while Mike worked with Fuzzy Knott on the ferris wheel, and Joe and Criss worked where ever help was needed; Merry -Go-Round, little boats or one of the many booths. Brenda said, Johnny and she were married so they could stay home. For the most part she did, Johnny never took her out to dinner without the children. He did take her to the annual installation of officers for Second District when her sons were in the department.
When Johnny’s father passed away in July of 1974, his mother came to live with them. The family, and especially Brenda had to adjust and change and share not just her home but her kitchen with her mother-in-law. Brenda made it work, they tried to continue the annual camping trips but the family was spreading its wings and weren’t available all at the same time. Other than their honeymoon, the only other trip she took with Johnny, without the children, was a weekend the year before he died. In the spring of 1982, when Johnny was diagnosed with cancer she gave up “subbing” and took care of him until his death on January 16, 1983.
She was a little lost, then shortly after Johnny’s death she received a notice that her homeowner’s insurance was canceled since the policy holder was deceased. In tears she called Mr. Raley and he told her she was covered and come in the next day for the paperwork. When she left his office that day she had insurance and her old job back, only this time with more responsibilities. She had joined the Ladies of Charity of Holy Face Church and worked the different activities with her mother; be it senior luncheons with bingo or the annual yard sale or pancake supper.
It was going to work one morning that Emanuel “Sugar” Greenwell Guy, Sr. working on a nearby roof saw her and commented to his co-worker John Chapman, Sr. John and his wife Barbara introduced the two. For the first time Brenda was going out to dinner and dances with Sugar, and it wasn’t just local but even up “north” to Hughesville, Waldorf and Bel Alton. He introduced her to his family and spent many hours getting to know them and their children. This relationship was different, Sugar would help cook the meals and take care of stuff so they could do things together.
Brenda and Sugar were married on November 23, 1985 at the old Court House in Leonardtown, MD with their children present; with Dennis and Criss standing up for them. They held a reception of family and friends at the Knights of Columbus Council Home in Ridge, MD. A year later they remarried at Holy Face Church and had a reception at Western Steer in California, MD.
Brenda’s marriage to Sugar was very different, as their children for the most part were adults, and didn’t require their daily attention. Brenda was a devout catholic and Sugar was back in church every Sunday with her, first at Holy Face and then St. John’s in Hollywood, MD. Now after church rather than going home to cook a hot breakfast they went out to eat and sometimes spend the day visiting friends and family. Sugar joined the Knights of Columbus St. Michael’s Council and Brenda the KC Belles. Brenda introduced Sugar to camping and he upgraded her to the mobile home traveling. Now together they prepared for the trip, and Sugar did a lot of grilling. They invited all their children to join them, and many times the “Guys” were their own party at the campground, and her parents traveled with them.
Brenda would not accept an invitation for anything without clearing it with Sugar, and he was the same; but she loved going out and they did. Sugar introduced her to NASCAR and the Braves, and even got her and her parents to Wisconsin to see the Washinigton Redskins play (shortly after her parents’ 50th wedding anniversary). They joined the Blue Crabs camping club and as long as they were able took her parents with them, as well as the grandchildren. Brenda loved her family and the family Sugar brought to their marriage. She would take off to go to “grandparent’s day” or any program for a grandchild. In the evenings they would attend the “t ball” and little league games. In her spacetime she wrote a book on “How to License Agents” from her experience at Raley, Watts and Associates. She had it copywrited and sold it.
In 2005,after her mother recovered from a heart attack, she decided retire on her 65th birthday from where she was the receptionist/jack of all trades. She said the little money she would receive wasn’t worth it and that life is too short. She and Sugar traveled from Delaware to Florida and west to Missouri. They took the motor home most of the time, but sometimes would stay with family or do the condo thing. At one point they nearly moved to Vera Beach, FL, but changed their minds.
Brenda joined the Catholic Daughters of the Americas, Court St. Mary’s #1547 after her daughter Criss became Regent. It was long overdue, as her mother had been a charter member. For the first time there were three generations in the court, and her husband supported in every way.
As time passed Brenda and Sugar’s travels slowed down. She helped care for her parents, who built a house where her garden had been. This enabled her be able to stay at home until Sugar went into hospice care for a short time before his death. Then on May 14, 2012 Brenda lost Sugar and for the first time she was in a house all alone. She joined Hospice and NARFE and was extremely active in both. She worked at Camp Sunrise and Walk for Life. Her mother whose health was failing moved into assisted living. Brenda was regularly over at her mom’s to take her somewhere or do something for her. She would take her mother to Ridge Lions’ Club events and work while her mother socialized. She lost her mother on September 7th, 2019 after a brief illness in hospice care.
Brenda is survived by the children Michael Patrick Cullison (Anita Lorraine) of North Charleston, SC, Christine Marie Cullison of Great Mills, MD and Joseph Earl Cullison (Sharon Sisco) of Leonardtown, MD; stepchildren Virginia Quade of Bushwood, MD, Deborah Burroughs of Hollywood, MD, Robin Lawrence (George) of Chaptico, MD, Emanuel Guy, Jr. of Hollywood, MD and Lisa Guy of Florida.; brothers Benedict Paul Jarboe of Piney Point, MD; John Parron Jarboe (Maryann) of Wildewood, Fl, and Robert Neal Jarboe (Nancy) of Myrtle Beach, SC. and 24 grandchildren, 30 great grandchildren, and four great-great grandchildren. As well as special friends Beverly Jarboe, Linda Scott, Lillianne Jarboe, and Linda Wible.
In addition to her parents, first and second husbands, she is preceded in death by her infant siblings Lawrence Wayne and Mary Shirley Jarboe, her stepson Dennis Guy, her sons-in-law Frank Quade and James Burroughs, and her grandchildren Rebecca Lorraine Cullison, Jason Long, Sunni Lee Guy and Leighann Burroughs Tuemler.
Family will receive friends on Thursday, October 14th, 2021 from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m., at Mattingly-Gardiner Funeral Home with Mass to follow at Holy Face Catholic Church, 20408 Point Lookout Road, Great Mills, MD 20634. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated by Reverend Paul Nguyen on Thursday, October 14, 2021 at 11:00 a.m. at Holy Face Catholic Church. Interment will follow in the church cemetery.
The pallbearers serving for Brenda, were chosen to represent the many families and friends who touched her life: James Shirley, George P. Conley, Christopher Jarboe, George Lawrence, Stephen Tennyson and John G.Chapman, Jr. Honary Pallbearers are Olivia Cullison, Elijah Cullison, Allison Cullison, Dylan Cullison, Phillip Conley and Jorja Conley.
In lieu of flowers memorial contributions may be to Hospice of St. Mary’s and the Second District Volunteer Fire Department and Rescue Squad.
