Laura Jennifer Brehm

Laura Jennifer Brehm

Laura Jennifer Brehm passed away on July 2, 2025. Born in Princeton, New Jersey on April 2, 1990, Laura was a graduate of Lawrence High School and the University of Maine, where she earned her degree in Ecology and Environmental Science in 2013.

Laura's lifelong love of nature began at Stonybrook Watershed Nature Camp, where she discovered the fascinating world of worms, caterpillars, bugs, and butterflies. In high school, Laura balanced swimming and cross-country running with her passion for environmental activism as an intern at Sustainable Lawrence. She threw herself into various projects, including an ambitious effort to replace grass lawns with natural habitats with the hope of slowly rewilding the neighborhood, one yard at a time.

At the University of Maine, the moment classes ended, she would escape to Moosehead Lake to immerse herself in the great outdoors. Her home became her own "great indoors"—a greenhouse sanctuary where a riot of plants thrived, protected from Maine's harsh winters. After college, Laura worked at Goranson Farm, an organic operation in Dresden, Maine, caring for pigs and chickens while selling fresh vegetables at local farmers markets, living simply in a tiny cabin with a bubbling stream just outside her door.

She then took an AmeriCorps job weeding invasive buffelgrass in Saguaro National Park in Tucson, Arizona. Although that job only lasted four months, she ended up living in Tucson for 10 years. In Arizona's vast landscape, Laura discovered rock climbing and embraced a life of hiking and camping—always outdoors and sometimes even sleeping in portaledges, hanging cots suspended from sheer rock faces. While there, Laura started her own company, Laura's Locals, selling produce, mostly mushrooms, grown in Tucson at various farmers markets and to restaurants and hotels. She was a familiar face at the Heirloom Farmers Market, and even managed it for two years.

Laura was a friend to all and a beacon of light and laughter. She was fiercely compassionate and fought for social justice for all. She lived a life in harmony with the natural world she so cherished.

Left to cherish her memory are her parents, Carrie and Fred; her brothers, Fred and Will; her sisters-in-law, Chloe and Johannah; her nieces, Sage and Violet; several aunts, uncles, and cousins; as well as many friends.

A Celebration of Life Service will be held on Saturday, July 26, 2025 at 1:00 pm at The Fellowship Center at The Presbyterian Church of Lawrenceville, 2688 Lawrenceville Road, Lawrence, NJ 08648. A reception will follow from 2:00 - 3:00 pm.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the National Alliance on Mental Health | Mercer (https://namimercer.org/) or Arizonans for Gun Safety (https://www.azgunsafety.org).