Brittany Baguley

1978 - 2016

Brittany Margaret Baguley

June 7, 1978 -
July 10, 2016

Brittany Margaret Baguley, age 38 of Reno, passed away on Sunday, July 10, 2016 from a cardiac arrest while camping with her beloved husband, Jeff. She along with her twin brother, Tristan, were born to Arlene Adair and Lyle Layton Hartzell on June 7, 1978 in Florence, Oregon.

Brittany attended Siuslaw High School and was homecoming queen, as well as a true student athlete. She was valedictorian and excelled in long distance running. She went on to attend her dad's alma mater, Linfield College on scholarship where she met her future husband, Jeffrey Baguley. At Linfield College she ran cross country and was a member of Alpha Phi sorority. She was a brilliant student and scientist, completing her PhD in Analytical Chemistry at Ohio University and doing post-doctoral research in forensic analytical chemistry at the University of South Carolina. Ultimately, Brittany channeled her lively curiosity and intellect into her dream job. Since she was a young child she had wanted to work in law enforcement, and by high school had decided to become a forensic chemist. She fulfilled her dreams by joining the Washoe County Sheriff's Office as a Criminalist, and ultimately rose to the rank of Senior Criminalist and DNA Technical Leader. She amazed her family and friends with real life "CSI" stories. Once cases became public she loved to convey how crime scenes and forensic evidence were pieced together. She especially loved to work cold cases using the latest advances in DNA typing technology; under her lead she helped bring closure to many recent cases, as well as cases that had remained unsolved for decades. Her work was often featured in local and national news, at one point even appearing on a Dateline NBC special.

Brittany's family and friends were her passion and delight. Regarded as an angel on earth by the rest of her family, she was the person everyone turned to in times of difficulty. She spent countless hours babysitting and playing with nieces and nephews, who regarded her as the "best aunt ever". She had a lively sense of humor and a talent for drawing family members close together. She was very active and loved being outdoors with her husband, Jeff, and their dogs.

She is survived by her husband Jeff, her parents Arlene and Lyle, brothers Tristan and Scott, sister Gail as well as multiple nieces and nephews (Cambrie, Zack, Mykah, Madeleigh, Eva, Jonathan, and Caitlyn), mother-in-law Jan, brother-in-law Tim and sisters-in-law Maryanne and Terry. Brittany was the best of all of us, and we honor her by trying to be more like the unbelievably good person she was.

A memorial service will be held Friday, July 22 at 1 p.m. at Reno Christian Fellowship at 1700 Zolezzi Ln., Reno, Nevada 89511. Flowers may be sent to the memorial service or charitable donations can be made to the Scleroderma Foundation or to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.