August 16, 1953 – February 9, 2026
Brenda M. (Nyhan) Miccio, 72, of Reading, passed away peacefully in the comfort of her home, surrounded by the love of her family on Monday, February 9, 2026.
Brenda was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts on August 16th, 1953, to the late Phillip and Mary Annetta (Murphy) Nyhan. Her life was defined by boundless energy, positivity, and a fierce dedication to bringing people together.
She excelled as a student in the Burlington school system and became the captain of her cheerleading squad. She went on to earn a degree in Education from Salem State College followed by a master’s degree in Education from Boston University. She taught Business Science at Shawsheen Technical High School and then went on to teach at Burdett and Fisher Junior Colleges in Boston.
Brenda’s life changed the night that she met Vincent Miccio, Sr., at the Oxford Ale House, a jazz club in Harvard Square. They spent their first date sailing together on the Charles River at Community Boating in Cambridge. As their relationship developed, they discovered a shared love of boating. Together with some friends, they restored a vintage US-1 boat that had been dredged up from the bottom of Marblehead Harbor. For years they spent weekends competing in local racing competitions with their trusty US-1. Their sailing adventures would find them sailing to Nova Scotia, chartering boats in the British Virgin Islands, and even sailing for a week out on the open seas to Bermuda. In their later years, Brenda and Vincent spent many summers cruising along the coast of New England in their beloved trimaran, Dragonfly. Brenda and Vincent were active members of various yacht clubs throughout the years including the Corinthian Yacht Club, Jubliee Yacht Club, Lynn Yacht Club, the Blue Water Sailing Club, and Volunteer Yacht Club. Brenda, along with Vincent, served as Corinthian Yacht Club co-fleet captains from 2007-2009. Brenda also served on the Membership Committee at Corinthian Yacht club and was the secretary of the Blue Water Sailing Club. She remained active right up until the time of her diagnosis and received the Corthinian Yacht Club Ned Nock award, the Blue Water Sailing Club Commodore’s award, and the Blue Water Sailing Club Kingman award for her outstanding contributions.
Vincent taught Brenda to sail, and in turn, she taught him how to ski. Summers were for sailing and winters were for skiing. They skied across the northeast and even out west. They both loved to teach people how to ski – there is a long list of those friends and family who can point to Brenda as their first ski instructor. Anyone who has been skiing with Brenda can tell you that she was always the one taking her time, making perfect turns effortlessly down the slope.
Brenda was also a dedicated mother to her son, Vincent, Jr., who was born on September, 10th 1981. She encouraged him to seek his passions and to always set his goals high. She guided him through the stressful times of early schooling, encouraged him to join a local martial arts school, the Academy of Traditional Karate, encouraged him to go to Japan after high school, tolerated him working halfway around the world in Japan for two years, and helped him make the decision to pursue medicine as a career. Brenda was always busy, but her son was always at the top of her list.
Around the time that Vincent Jr., was born, Vincent Sr. noted that there were some job openings where he was working at Digital Equipment Corporation. With Vincent Sr.’s encouragement, Brenda made the brave decision to leave teaching and joined Digital. She spent the next few years teaching herself how to code. What followed was a successful career in computer programming at Digital, Compaq, Hewlett Packard, and eventually as a programmer for the State of Massachusetts. She loved her work and she was blessed to be surrounded by amazing coworkers throughout her life, many of whom would go on to become lifelong friends.
As mentioned above, Brenda encouraged her son to pursue martial arts at a local martial arts school. Brenda and Vincent St. spent many a weekend sitting in the bleachers watching an endless amount of karate tournaments (with no phones to scroll on!). Around the time that Vincent Jr. was in college and winding down his activities at his local martial arts school, Brenda and Vincent Sr. decided to join the school themselves. As they are stubbornly committed to excellence and seeing things through, they ended up training for 5+ years and earning their second degree black belts!
If she wasn’t busy enough being a dedicated wife, mother, and co-worker, she was also a dedicated daughter. When her mother, Netta was dealing with chronic medical issues after having a stroke and open-heart surgery, Brenda had Netta live with her. Netta would end up living with Brenda and her family for 15 years. I’m sure that many family members can remember the familiar scene: Brenda and Netta sitting side by side on their computers, Brenda working and Netta playing solitaire.
Throughout her life, Brenda had a gift for bringing people together. She loved organizing parties and family gatherings and was an exceptional host, always ensuring everyone felt welcomed and included. From hosting Frank’s teenage rock band madness in her living room (complete with a custom-built stage) to Christmas dance parties where the neighbors called to politely ask that we turn the music down, she never hesitated when it came to throwing a great party. She always delighted in organizing games for the family and never passed up a game of cards. Whether it was hearts, rummy, Russian bank, sequence, or left-right-center, she would always use her patented pouty-face to guilt us into “just one more game.”
It is going to be hard to out-do Brenda. Her energy and kindness brought joy to all she met. Her family will miss her dearly. We will all strive to keep the party going.
Brenda is survived by her devoted husband, Vincent F. Miccio, Sr. of Reading; her son, Vincent Miccio, Jr., and his wife, Kay, of Brooklyn, New York; her sister, Elizabeth Flahive, and her husband, Lawrence, of Billerica. She was sadly predeceased by her brother John Nyhan. She is remembered by her cherished grandchildren, Kenzo and Remi, of Brooklyn; her beloved nieces and nephews: Brian, Frank, Joe, Kenny, Rebecca, Luca, Valentina, Sophie, Quin, Enzo, Danny, Phil, Chance, Colton, Jackie, Betsy, James, Izzy, Emma, Abby, Anna, Brendan, and Steven; and her countless friends that have stood by her side.
Relatives and friends are respectfully invited to attend her visiting hours on Friday, February 13th from 4pm to 7pm at the Edward V. Sullivan Funeral Home, 43 Winn St. Burlington. Her funeral will begin from the funeral home at 9am on Saturday, February 14th with a Funeral Mass of Christian Burial being celebrated at St. Malachy Church, 99 Bedford St., Burlington at 10am. Burial will follow in Chestnut Hill Cemetery, Burlington. In lieu of flowers, contributions in her memory may be made to the Dana Farber Cancer Institute at Dana-Faber.org. Arrangements are by the Edward V. Sullivan Funeral Home, www.sullivanfuneralhome.net
