Dorothy E. Brooks

Dorothy E. (Hess) Brooks, 94, of Clare, Michigan passed away at home after a short illness and went to be with her Lord and Savior on Tuesday, August 27, 2019. Dorothy was a beautiful and gracious lady all her life. She was born on July 25, 1925, and grew up in a log cabin homestead on Beaverton road at the Clare-Gladwin County line in Sheridan Township, Clare County. She was the daughter of Walter Hess and Dorothea (Dora Haring) Hess. Tragedy struck her young as her father Walter died when Dorothy was just 4 years old leaving her mother to provide care for her and her siblings, Fred, Charles, Harold, and Gertrude. She graduated from the Brewer School on Dover Road in 8th grade and then went to work as a housekeeper. When she was 17, she went to Detroit and worked for a Doctor and his family, having been recommended by a neighbor lady. Every day she would bake a cherry pie for the doctor’s family and the doctor praised her on how well she ironed his shirts. After that, she went to work in a diamond factory that made diamond cutting tools. After a time, she was asked to move into the sorting room and sort diamonds. Unfortunately, she had to decline as she had news that her brother Harold was killed in WWII on Nov. 19, 1944. After that, Dorothy felt the need to return home from Detroit to Sheridan Township to help her widowed mother. Sometime in the next few years Dorothy met the love of her life, Harold R. Brooks, at a dance that she had attended with her mother. On October 28, 1945 she and Harold married at the Kawkawlin Community Church in Kawkawlin, Michigan. They set up house on the Brooks Family farm south of Clare where she resided for over 73 years. She was an accomplished homemaker, excellent cook, and seamstress. Over the course of this time, she and Harold raised 8 children and farmed over 400 acres. She had a green thumb to be envied as she tended a large vegetable garden while raising her family as well as nurtured her house plants and planted amazing flower beds on which she always received many compliments on how beautiful they were. She was an active member of the Clare United Methodist Church, the United Methodist Women, the Mt. Vernon Grange #992, as well as the MSU North Vernon Extension Club. Throughout her life she instilled in her children the importance of family, loving one another, hospitality towards others, and so much more. Her beautiful smile and gracious demeanor has truly been a light to our world and she will be greatly missed. She has been preceded in death by her husband, Harold R. Brooks, who passed away on April 11, 2000, her mother and father, Walter and Dora Hess, her brothers, Fred, Charles, and Harold Hess, her younger sister Gertrude Wolfe, as well as a great-granddaughter. She leaves behind as a legacy and testament to her life her 8 children, Gregory (Beverly) Brooks, Gretchen Rodammer, Susan (Arthur) Camara, Sylvia Taylor, Richard (Dixie) Brooks, Karen Brooks, Beth Methner, and Tracey Brooks as well as 11 grandchildren, Nikki, Mark, Shannon, Chris, Aaron, Adam, Allison, Rachel, Megan, Jennifer, & Mary, 27 great-grandchildren, and several nieces and nephews among whom she was special to many. A funeral service will be held on Saturday, Aug. 31, at 10:00 AM at the Clare United Methodist Church with Pastor John Kasper officiating. Burial will follow in the Cherry Grove Cemetery in Clare. Friends may meet with Dorothy’s family on Friday, from 2 to 5 and 6 to 8 PM at the Clare Chapel of Stephenson-Wyman Funeral Home and on Saturday morning from 8:30 till 10 AM at the Church. A breakfast Brunch will be served at the church prior to the service. Memorial contributions may be made to the Clare United Methodist Church, 105 E. Seventh St., Clare, Mi., 48617.

Dorothy E. Brooks

July 25, 1925 - August 27, 2019