Renee Craven Gokenbach

Renee Craven Gokenbach -- a devoted wife, mother, grandmother, sister, and friend -- passed away on July 14, 2024 at the age of 89 in San Diego, California. She is preceded in death by her husband Ray and her brother Allen. She is survived by her daughters Marjorie and Jennifer, grandchildren Tomas, Dario, and Megan, son-in-law Richard, and brother Gary.

Renee was born on June 20, 1935 in Highland Park, Michigan and grew up in Detroit, Michigan. As a child, she spent her summers in Eaton, Indiana with her aunts, cousins and grandparents. She loved this part of her childhood the most. Her nickname was Baby because she was the youngest child at the time. After graduating from high school, Renee attended nursing school at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. She loved her time at nursing school and the long lasting friends she made there. Even just before her passing, Renee drove to visit with one of her nursing school friends for the July 4th holiday. Renee graduated nursing school when she was 17, but couldn’t take the nursing licensure exam until she turned 18. She started working as a nurse anyways, under supervision. After working a few years in a Detroit hospital, Renee decided to go on a nursing voyage with the S.S. Hope (the world’s first peacetime hospital ship). The S.S. Hope provided healthcare and training for healthcare workers in local communities around the world. She spent a year on the S.S. Hope in Guinea, West Africa and another year in Cartagena, Colombia. In the 1960s, between her two voyages, Renee traveled alone to Portugal on vacation. She was brave and independent. If you told Renee she couldn’t do something, she would always figure out a way to do it.

After returning to Detroit from the S.S. Hope Renee decided she wanted to live somewhere warmer than Michigan and moved to San Diego where her nursing school friend, Donna, lived. She got a nursing job at a local hospital and worked in the emergency room, on the IV team, and as Head Nurse. Shortly after moving to San Diego, Renee met Ray, her husband of 51 years, through a blind date set up by his cousin and Renee’s friend from the S.S. Hope. They married 6 months after meeting in 1970 at the First United Methodist Church. Their first daughter, Marjorie, was born in 1972 and their second daughter, Jennifer, in 1973. After the birth of her daughters, Renee stopped working as a nurse and devoted all of her time to homemaking and caring for Ray and her two girls. She was very active with the PTA, Brownies, Girl Scouts, and the church. When her girls and a friend took tap dance lessons, she did too. Renee sewed their tap performance costumes, holiday dresses, matching outfits, and Halloween costumes. She even made a custom red satin and lace prom dress for her oldest daughter’s high school prom. Renee was also good at crocheting and knitting and gifted her specially knitted blankets and crocheted pot holders to friends and family. She also took cake decorating classes and made intricate and memorable cakes for birthdays and holidays.

When the kids were young, Renee also helped her husband by doing bookkeeping for the real estate business he started in San Diego in 1958. She got her real estate license after the girls finished high school and ran the real estate business with her husband until 2021, when their daughters finally convinced them it was time to retire. Renee loved to give advice and help her friends in any way possible. No task was too difficult or time-consuming for her; Renee lived her life helping others. She was a Sunday school teacher at the First United Methodist Church teaching 3-4 year old children for over 20 years. Some parents would tell Renee that their kids made sure they came to church every Sunday, just so they could go to her Sunday school class. All the 50+ years with the church she volunteered her time in one way or another such as serving as Sunday Saint and helping with Prayer Quilts. Renee was a true caregiver and nursing was always her passion. Her late husband who lived to be 94 years old would always say, “I wouldn’t still be alive if it weren’t for Renee.”

During the final years of her life, when she was in her eighties, Renee was the bookkeeper for her son-in-law’s business. Her mind was sharp and her days were busy with going to lunch with her friends, stopping by her daughter’s house to see what Richard, her son-in-law, had for her to do, and serving on the HOA Board for her condominium complex. Even though her mind and spirit planned to “live to be 101”, as she often told friends and family, God had other plans. Renee will be missed more than words can express, but we know she is now with her Ray in heaven. The loving and generous nature Renee exuded and shared with others was an inspiration to everyone she met.

Family and friends are invited to attend a memorial service at First United Methodist Church at 2111 Camino del Rio South, San Diego, CA 92108 at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, August 24, 2024 in the sanctuary. A reception will follow in Linder Hall.