Jean Lenore Brooks

Jean Lenore Brooks died peacefully September 11, 2014 at the age of 93 in the arms of her daughter, Cindy while son-in-law Andy read the 23rd Psalm.

The beloved daughter of Russell Hull and Juanita Marris Hull, Jean was born in Midland, Michigan on December 3, 1920, lived briefly in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and began her life in Crooksville, Ohio at the age of 13. There she met and eventually married Richard D. Brooks on Feb. 6, 1938 and their marriage lasted 57 years. Jean and Dick built the Crooksville Dairy Queen in 1949 and operated it for nearly 30 years. The Dairy Queen was known for its Sloppy Joes which Jean was constantly cooking in the family home on Vaughn Street. After leaving Crooksville, they relocated to Columbus, Ohio where Jean joined the Barrington Group, Inc. and worked for that company for 10 years as a property manager.

She was a woman of faith and raised her family as members of the Crooksville United Methodist Church. She rarely missed a Sunday service and participated in women's groups, taught Sunday school, and Vacation Bible School.

Being a lover of life and of people, she was active socially and was always ready to welcome a friend or guest into her home. Jean and Dick loved to dance to big band music and excellent dancers they were. In later years, they retired to Ft. Myers Beach, Florida and there she especially enjoyed line-dancing with her friends and family.

Jean was ahead of her time in the maintenance of her physical health before it was in vogue. She overcame her fear of the water and learned to swim at the age of 40. Eventually, she had learned well enough to help with swimming lessons and synchronized swimming at the Crooksville Community Pool. She continued to swim laps well into her 80's.

Jean will be profoundly missed but her love of life and feisty spirit will live on in those she left behind.

She is survived by her four daughters: Joan (Harold) Riggle, Lee Brooks, Lynn Nsubaga, and Cindy (Andy) Maxwell; 10 grandchildren; 18 great-grandchildren; a sister, Sarah Hull and numerous nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Richard who passed away September 1, 1995; two sisters, Lois Wren and Helen Young and two brothers, Russell and William Hull.

A celebration service of Jean's life will be held at 11 AM, Saturday, September 27th at the First Hope United Methodist Church, 20 North Buckeye St, Crooksville. Family and friends will be received beginning at 10:00 AM. The family requests that donations be made to Alpine Fireside Health Center, 3650 N. Alpine Rd, Rockford, Illinois 61114 in Jean's name. Envelopes will be available at the church.

You may read the obituary, sign the Online Register Book (Memory Wall) and share a special memory with the family at www.goebelfuneralhome.com