“She Loved Sparkles, Laughter, and Everyone She Met”: The Life of Renee Good — and the Tragedy That Changed Her Family Forever

Renee Good loved the little things in life — sparkles, laughter, and any excuse to celebrate. Birthdays, holidays, or even ordinary evenings could turn into moments of joy if Renee was around. Friends and family say she had a gift for making people feel seen, valued, and loved.

But today, the people who knew her best are left remembering those bright moments through tears.

Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, was shot and killed on January 7 during a tense immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis. Her sudden death shocked her family, shook a community, and ignited a national conversation about immigration enforcement and the human cost of conflict.

For her parents, Donna Ganger and Tim Ganger, the loss feels almost impossible to put into words.

“She had this way of making you feel special and loved,” Donna said quietly during a long interview. “I didn’t even fully understand how rare that was until we lost her.”

Those who knew Renee describe her as someone who radiated warmth. She laughed easily, loved deeply, and rarely held onto anger.

“She was slow to anger, quick to love, quick to care,” her father Tim said. “That’s the essence of who she was.”

Renee also had a charming flaw that made her family smile even now: she was almost always late.

“Not because she didn’t care,” Donna said with a small laugh through tears. “She just loved people so much she would stop and talk with everyone.”

But beyond her warmth and humor, Renee was also a woman who worked hard to rebuild her life and follow her dreams.

After graduating from college later than most of her peers, she had recently begun volunteering in a local school district while working as a substitute teacher. Education mattered deeply to her, her parents said. She believed in helping children grow, especially those who needed encouragement.

“She worked so hard to get her degree,” Donna said. “And once she finally started using it, I could see how happy she was. She felt fulfilled.”

Her life was moving forward with hope.

Renee, her partner Becca Good, and their young son had recently moved to Minneapolis from Kansas City. They settled into a quiet neighborhood known for its strong sense of community and activism.

To Renee, it felt like the right place to build a future.

But on the morning of January 7, that future came to an abrupt and heartbreaking end.

Immigration enforcement operations were unfolding across Minneapolis that day, sparking protests and tension in several neighborhoods.

According to Becca Good, the couple had briefly stopped their car in the street to support neighbors during one of the operations.

Video footage from the scene shows Renee sitting in a red SUV, honking her horn as immigration officers approached.

Two officers stepped out of a truck. One ordered her to open the door.

Moments later, the situation escalated.

Renee briefly reversed the vehicle. Then she turned the steering wheel as the officer again ordered her to get out of the car.

At nearly the same moment, Becca — standing in the street — shouted toward the vehicle.

“Drive, baby, drive!”

As Renee began to move the car forward, an officer standing in front of the vehicle drew his weapon and fired multiple shots into the SUV.

Renee Good died at the scene.

Her death, followed weeks later by the death of another U.S. citizen during enforcement operations, sparked protests and outrage across the country. Many demanded a closer examination of how immigration enforcement actions are carried out and whether policies should change.

But for Renee’s family, the political debate is only part of the story.

At the center of everything is the woman they lost.

The daughter who loved glitter and celebrations.

The sister who made people laugh.

The mother who adored her children.

Her brothers, Brent and Luke Ganger, say their family has always represented what they call “a very American blend.”

“We vote differently,” Luke told lawmakers in testimony to Congress. “And we rarely completely agree on the finer details of what it means to be a citizen of this country.”

Yet despite their differences, the family says love has always come first.

“We’ve always treated each other with love and respect,” he said.

Now, in the face of unimaginable grief, they hope Renee’s story can help others rediscover that same spirit.

“Our purpose through this whole tragic, difficult, unbelievable time,” Tim Ganger said, “is to have something good come out of this.”

Because without that, he says, the loss feels unbearable.

“The senselessness of this is overwhelming.”

Donna admits the pain will likely never fade.

“It’s going to be hard in the future,” she said softly. “It’s going to be kind of a constant pain.”

Yet she is determined not to let grief divide her family — or anyone else.

Before all of this happened, she recalls praying for guidance.

“I asked God to make me a wise woman,” she said.

Now that prayer feels more meaningful than ever.

“I’m sometimes silly,” she said with a faint smile. “I joke with my kids. I’m goofy.”

“But I also want to be able to talk about the hard things.”

That, she admits, isn’t always easy — even within families who love each other.

“Sometimes it’s hard to talk about things you don’t agree on,” she said. “But I don’t want there to be hurt between us.”

Instead, she hopes people everywhere can learn something from Renee’s life — and from the tragedy of her death.

“It’s important that we learn to be careful with our words,” she said. “But also share them deeply.”

Because if anything good can come from such a devastating loss, she believes it will be this:

A reminder to love each other more.

To listen more.

And to never forget the people who brought light into the world — like Renee Good, the woman who loved sparkles, laughter, and everyone she met.