Jennifer Dawn Brakeman

Jennifer Brakeman was born in the spring of 1980 in Boise, Idaho, to Cori and Ed Soito, and was raised with love by Cori and Mike Ladely in North Idaho, which she called home until she ultimately left this earth behind for the peace of heaven she longed for so deeply. Jenn grew up surrounded by her siblings Donny and Megan and close family on all sides, enjoying softball, horseback riding, the flute, and driving her red convertible. She was a funny, gentle nurturer all of her days. Every plant– and person– she touched flourished. She excelled at both athletics and academics, and she had a lifelong love of Jesus and a love for learning and growing. Incredibly competitive, she loved playing- and winning- games with her siblings and family. Jenn was all things healthy, wholesome, kind, and holy, except for that graffiti, right class of '98? She found a way to sneak healthy foods and vegetables into every meal possible until she met her match in Birdie, the only person in Idaho more stubborn than Jenn. We all breathed a sigh of self-assurance when even Jenn stocked hot dogs in her freezer for Miss Bird. Braiding, baking, coloring, cleaning, reading aloud to her kids and everyone else's-- she had a cream, supplement, tincture, tea, podcast, article, hug, book, and/or anecdote for your ailment. She had the superhuman power to pass on wisdom, correction, and education in the most benevolent way possible.

Jenn married her high school sweetheart Duane Pennock on August 4, 2001. Dew and Jenn shared a love for their chocolate lab Belle, the mountains, their families, and dipping their toes into a crunchy lifestyle. They truly packed a lifetime into 4 years of marriage until Duane left us in a devastating accident. The Pennocks kept Jenn as their own and loved her so well.

In a story only God could write, Jenn met and married Matthew Brakeman on June 14, 2006, among the mountains and valleys they both loved so much and would explore together in the coming 20 years. Matthew saw Jenn’s heart so clearly and kindled the spark she almost lost when she lost Duane. Their 20 years were spent loving God and serving others with bravery and faithfulness, including four years as Free Burma Rangers missionaries, offering medical, spiritual, and tactical support to the people of Thailand and conflict-torn Burma.

Jenn and Matthew’s wedding rings display the Claddagh, an Irish symbol of a heart, crown, and hands that represents friendship, love, and loyalty-- three things that describe the Brakemans well. Jenn's family, friends, and every single person whose path she crossed would tell you about the light she emanated and the warmth and goodness she found in everything and everyone. Her faithfulness through the darkest nights kept her-- and all of us-- going. She continually sought the Lord and looked so forward to the day that has now come, when all her questions would be answered, all pain would end, and she'd get to see the good God made out of all the hard. She trusted the Lord with all her heart and was fast to turn others to Him even in her own doubts and fear.

Jenn felt most at home with her precious family, in the beauty of God's creation, or with her hand extended to someone in need and a baby on her chest. She pursued midwifery as a profession and was dedicated to offering compassionate care and wisdom to each of her beloved clients. Facing infertility in her own life didn’t stop her from celebrating the hope of new life with each birth she attended. Jenn was incredibly gifted at nurturing new mothers and caught hundreds of babies over the years, but her proudest moments were those in which her hands-- those beautiful, graceful, healing hands-- caught her own two children.

Sweet Tasha knew the moment she met Jenn and Matthew that Gabe was theirs, and on Christmas Day, 2015, Jenn's lifelong and heartbreak-ridden dream of being a mama came true. That brown-eyed miracle boy was and is the loudest, most creative soul who will take apart any machine in nothing flat, and Jenn was the most patient mother- she knew him so deeply and fought fiercely to give him everything he needed. Only Jenn could hear those Gabe stories and truly never tire.

The Brakemans had the privilege of fostering baby Jack and adopting two snowflake babies, each for a short but precious time. They waited hopefully for God's next step until Birdie and her long blonde curl joined and completed their family. What they lacked in shared genetics, Birdie and Jenn made up for in their mutual gift for compassion and caregiving, gentleness, sense of humor, and strong-willed independence.

Jenn gave and gave of herself whether her own cup was full or empty. She fiercely defended her family against the enemy and covered them in prayer, truth, and protection. She stopped at nothing to love Matthew, Gabe, and Birdie through their own dark valleys and to point them to the source of her hope, Jesus.

A true feat would be to name each of the people Jenn considered family, or those who would call her their sister. She is preceded in death by Duane Pennock; her father Ed Soito; her grandparents Don and Joanne Wilkinson; her aunt Darlene Ladely; her cousin Kerri Jo Wilkinson; and her nephew Kaleb Louis. She is survived by her husband Matthew Brakeman; their children Gabriel and Liberty; her parents Mike and Cori Ladely; siblings Donny (Michelle), Megan (Aaron), and Hayley; grandparents Doug and Barb Ladely; stepmother Robyn; and so many close aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews, great-nieces and -nephews; along with truly countless people who loved and were loved by Jenn.

Like Job, Jenn walked through suffering most of us will never understand, yet she never stopped believing that God was good. Her hope was never in her own goodness, but in Jesus, whose grace is a free gift, and with it comes complete forgiveness and freedom from sin and death. If you do not know the God Jenn trusted through every joy and every dark valley, she would want nothing more than for you to seek Him now– the same Jesus she loved, trusted, and finally sees face to face– and ultimately join her at home with Him.

A celebration of Jenn's full and beautiful life will be held this Saturday, August 22, 2026, at 2:00 p.m. at Mountain Springs Church, 6789 Main Street, Bonners Ferry, Idaho.

Those wishing to honor Jenn may give in her memory to Matthew and the children through GoFundMe.