Faye Jean Lyman Brandstetter of Red Oak, Iowa, passed away peacefully on August 3, 2025. She was a loving wife and mother, devoted to her family and to her extended family of first graders, and a joyous soul who laughed easily, loved deeply, and cared passionately.

Faye was born on September 6, 1940, in Cushing, Iowa, the daughter of Jack E. Lyman and Hilda Paulson Lyman. She graduated from Moville Iowa Community Schools and Wayne State College in Wayne, Nebraska. From an early age, she displayed a love for learning and teaching along with a deep curiosity about the world—qualities that would define her life's work and passions.

Faye dedicated four decades to teaching children in lower elementary grades, mostly first grade, where she nurtured not only the academic growth of her students but also their emotional and personal developmental needs and imagination. She was a gifted and creative educator who believed in the transformative power of reading. Her classroom was a haven for young minds, filled with carefully curated books from her private collection of more than 300 titles for early readers by esteemed authors and illustrators. Through these stories, she opened generations of young minds to wonder and discovery. Her gentle nature calmed those to whom learning was, at times, a struggle.

Beyond the classroom, Faye was an active member of several organizations that reflected her love of history, literature, and community. She belonged to Questers, P.E.O. Chapter HB, Presbyterian Women, the Omaha Lecture Series and was a founding member of a cherished no name book club where there was always a starting time with little use for an ending time. These groups were not only outlets for her intellectual interests but also sources of enduring friendship and joy.

Faye's zest for life found great pleasure in reading, traveling across the United States and abroad, bird watching in quiet moments of reflection, spending time with dear friends at countless gathering, and being at the theatre both in the audience and on the stage. Her entry into a conversation was often filled with laughter sparked by a quick wit that initiated a cogent quip when conversation needed a lift or just an opening to her point of view.

Making sure the cookie jar was filled whenever the grandsons and neighbor kids came was a joyous experience that she looked forward to just as much as they.

She is survived by her beloved husband of 61 years, Larry Brandstetter; their son Daniel Brandstetter and daughter-in-law Jennifer of Tiffin, Iowa; grandsons Garrett (LeClaire, Iowa) and Jackson (Staten Island, New York); nieces Arianna Brandstetter, Amy Hanson, Julie Goecke, and Bobbie Bruns; brother-in-law John Brandstetter; and sister-in-law Mary Fugle. She was preceded in death by her parents Jack E. Lyman and Hilda Paulson Lyman, and her sister Carol Ann Hanson.

Faye was a woman of deep compassion and gentle strength who offered comfort to those who needed it most. Somehow, she just knew who needed a kind word.

Visitation with the family will be held on Friday evening August 22, 2025, from 5:00 to 7:00 at LeRette Funeral Chapel, 1995 G Ave., Red Oak, Iowa.

A Funeral service will be held on August 23, 2025, at 10:00 AM at Red Oak Presbyterian Church, 511 E. Coolbaugh St., Red Oak, Iowa.

The family requests that in lieu of flowers, memorial offerings may be made to the Red Oak Public Library or Christ's Cupboard.

LeRette Funeral Chapel is in charge of arrangements.