Cassie Brenner's family made only one ask of funeral-goers in the Lincoln woman's obituary.
"Please help us celebrate her by wearing colors that represent her beautiful personality," the family wrote.
Nothing could be more fitting, said Mo Eisenhauer, a former roommate and yearslong friend of Brenner.
Eisenhauer had known her since their freshman year together at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2016. She called Brenner her best friend.
And she can't remember a time when she wasn't the best-dressed person in the room. Any room.
"The first thing I think of when I think of Cassie would be 'eye-catching,'" Eisenhauer said. "She always, always, always was best-dressed.
"Like, her makeup was always done and extravagant, and her hair was always done and extravagant. She was a fashionista. Part of her college degree was fashion."
It could almost be intimidating, Eisenhauer said.
"But as soon as you talked to her, her smile went to her eyes," she said. "She was always so warm and caring. And just super easy to talk to."
Brenner, 24, was among six Nebraskans — all in their 20s — killed in a single-car crash in east Lincoln amid the early-morning hours of Oct. 2.
In her obituary, her family described her as "a shining light" who "always had a positive attitude."
Eisenhauer uses different words — "captivating," "caring," "mothering" — to convey the same message.
"She was the person that was laughing with everybody," Eisenhauer said. "She had the one-liners. Or she would make one comment and the entire room would laugh."
Born April 16, 1998, in Lincoln, Brenner was raised in Valparaiso and graduated from Raymond Central High School in 2016 before moving to Lincoln.
She graduated from UNL with a broadcasting production degree in 2020, with minors in sociology, textiles, merchandising and fashion design.
In addition to fashion, the 24-year-old was passionate about photography, animals and her friends and family — particularly her nieces and nephews, who she adored, her family said.
She loved to nap, Eisenhauer said. Brenner was fiercely loyal, she said. And she was the kind of friend who friends could rely on.
"Everybody ... went to her for advice, went to her for things that you would go to your mom for," she said. "Cassie was definitely a rock in a lot of people's lives."
Cassie Brenner was 'always, always, always best-dressed' was published by Lincoln Journal Star on Oct. 9, 2022
