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Genevieve Briand was born Sept. 4, 1968 to Denis and Marie-Jo Briand in Nantes, France, and passed away suddenly but peacefully at home in Byron on Oct. 3, 2026. She grew up in Le Cep, France, at her family’s farm and eventually made it to Ecole Superieure d’Agriculture in Angers, France, which is a sister school of the University of Wyoming.
In 1990 she did a summer internship in Wyoming with the ag department at the University of Wyoming. She liked it enough to return in 1992 to work on a Ph.D. in economics at the University of Wyoming. In the fall of 1995, she met her future husband Dan Bodtke and they were married May 24, 1997 in Capenter, Wyoming. After which she started her journey to become a U.S. citizen and finish her degree.
Dan took a job in Pullman, Washington so Gen had to delay her studies. She finished her Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics at Washington State University in 2002 and became a U.S. citizen in April 2005. In December 2005 she welcomed her daughter Gwynff into her life. In 2015 she returned to Wyoming and settled in Byron to be closer to Dan’s parents. While she taught economics in person and online for various places including Eastern Washington, Washington State, University of Idaho, John Hopkins, Montana State and Northwest College, her main passion in life was family. She spent many hours doing craft projects to share memories with family members. She was vibrant and full of life and will be dearly missed.
Genevieve is survived by her father Denis Briand (France); brother Martin Briand, wife Cecilia and children (France); sister Florence Briand, partner Romuald and children (France); husband Dan Bodtke; daughter Gwynff Bodtke; parents-in-law Dale and Cynthia Bodtke; brother in law David Bodtke, wife Dawn and children; aunt and uncle Marie-Madeleine and Jean-Claude Choquet and children (France); and many extended family members and friends.
Viewing will be 1-3 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 11 and 7:45-8:45 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 12 at Haskell Funeral Home in Lovell. Memorial service will be held at 9 a.m. on Oct. 12 at Haskell Funeral Home in Lovell. A short graveside service will immediately follow at the Byron Cemetery. A memorial service will be held in France at a later date.
