Brenda Jowers (Kearse)

Brenda Kearse Jowers of Clarksville, TN passed peacefully on April 8, 2026 at the Park Meadows Post Acute facility in Clarksville. She was 73 years old.

Brenda was born to James Grady Kearse and Lula Edmonds Kearse on January 5th, 1953 in Portsmouth, VA. Her father was a US Naval Aviator and her mother was a nurse. Growing up, Brenda traveled the world with her family as they followed her father from post to post. After Grady retired from the Navy in 1967, they settled in Barnwell, SC. Brenda followed her mother into healthcare, graduating with a nursing degree from the University of South Carolina-Aiken. She met her future husband, Walter Lee Jowers, in Myrtle Beach, SC when he asked her to go fly kites. After a brief stint living together in New York City, they moved to Nashville, TN where she could smell the flowers. There they raised their daughter, Jessamine, named after the state flower of South Carolina. Brenda changed careers from NICU nurse at West Side Hospital/Centennial to school nurse at the University School of Nashville so she could have more time with her daughter. She became a beloved institution at the school, touching the lives of hundreds of students, parents, faculty and staff. After her retirement, she lived first in Aiken, SC, then in Clarksville, TN.

Brenda was preceded in death by her husband Walter in 2015. She is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, Jessamine and Hunter Burkey of Clarksville, TN; two grandsons, Theodore and Henry Burkey; one sister and brother-in-law, Gwen and Joe Bullington of Statesboro, GA; and one niece, Amanda Bullington of South Bend, IN.

The University School of Nashville will host a memorial service for Brenda at 10:30am on June 20th in the auditorium.

Please visit Brenda's tribute wall and share a memory with the family.