Her name should be said with honor.
Great Grandma Brooks represents the ideal of dedication, and endless love that is needed to be a mother. Her life is one of sacrifice, devotion and of holding her family together.
She was born in Henry County Missouri in 1870 to James W. Hunt and Mary Elizabeth Hart.
1892 Doris married Charles Daniel Brooks. They had five daughters and four sons.
1910 She lost a little daughter Josephine at 5 years of age.
1914 In her son Frank died. He was at 19 years old.
1917 after 25 years of marriage her husband Charles passed away of Pneumonia. Doris was forty seven years old when she became a widow and single mother of her seven living children. Four of which were under the age of 18. Over time the children worked to help support their family. In 1920 daughters Ethel 20 and Mary 18 were working as seamstresses, while William 16 worked as a machinist.
In 1923 – Her oldest daughter Grace died one month after giving birth due to complications and influenza. She was just 29 years old. Her infant son John Keith Brecht was not expect to survive but was taken five blocks south to the home of his grandmother Doris Ellen Brooks. He lived with her all of his life.
Great Grandma Brooks represents the ideal of dedication, and endless love that is needed to be a mother. Her life is one of sacrifice, devotion and of holding her family together.
She was born in Henry County Missouri in 1870 to James W. Hunt and Mary Elizabeth Hart.
1892 Doris married Charles Daniel Brooks. They had five daughters and four sons.
1910 She lost a little daughter Josephine at 5 years of age.
1914 In her son Frank died. He was at 19 years old.
1917 after 25 years of marriage her husband Charles passed away of Pneumonia. Doris was forty seven years old when she became a widow and single mother of her seven living children. Four of which were under the age of 18. Over time the children worked to help support their family. In 1920 daughters Ethel 20 and Mary 18 were working as seamstresses, while William 16 worked as a machinist.
In 1923 – Her oldest daughter Grace died one month after giving birth due to complications and influenza. She was just 29 years old. Her infant son John Keith Brecht was not expect to survive but was taken five blocks south to the home of his grandmother Doris Ellen Brooks. He lived with her all of his life.
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| Grandmother Brooks' home 1923-1968 Clinton Missouri |
In 1925 her son-in-law, Grace’s husband, John Brecht also died after being kicked in the stomach by a horse. This left their five small children orphans. The youngest three children stayed with Grandma Brooks and the two older children went to live with his mother Regina Brecht who was also a widow.
1930 Doris’s youngest daughter Georgia is working as a bookkeeper and contributing money to support her family.
1932 Son Ernest died Ernst died in active military duty at 25 years old
1944 The oldest orphaned grandson Victor Brecht dies during World War II in France.
Doris Ellen Brooks’ life is a story of an unending well of love. Often life throws at us so many difficulties it’s hard to manage, let alone be graceful and loving about it, but Grandma Doris Brooks did manage and so much more! She moved forward with love and faith through hard ship and loss. Her Grandson came to her when he was only one month old. He said of growing up, “we were poor but never went hungry.” Grandmother Brooks sewed all our underwear and clothing and sometimes we had patches on our pants,” but he felt loved. He spoke very highly of her and dedicated to her his memoir.
From the obituary of her son in law John Newton Brecht we read:
“It takes great courage to face the task of Mrs. Brooks and her daughter and raise these little ones. Indeed fortunate are the wee folks who are in their care, for to them is given unstinting love and motherly council and care and a true abiding faith in the Lord Jesus Christ for there are no better Christian people than the Brooks family.”
It appears that Grandma Brooks' faith in the Savior is what carried her throughout her life and blessed her with eternal love and hope. She lived a long life passing into the eternities to her waiting family when she was 92 years old. Bless her heart.
It has been a rough couple of weeks for our own family and I have struggled greatly to write of her challenges. But through this process I have learned so much! Her example has somehow sustained me. May each one of her descendants be blessed with that same faith, love and perseverance that she has shown us.
The three youngest orphans,
Doris, Bonnie Jean & John Brecht
Bonnie Jean, Grandma Doris Brooks,
John and Doris
Charles
Daniel Brooks & Doris Ellen Hunt parents of:
Grace
Brooks/Brecht
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| John Newton Brecht & Grace Brooks parents of the orphaned grandchildren |
Frank
Brooks
Carl
McKinley Brooks father of:
Alvin
George
Loren
Gerald
Carl Jr.
Leonard
Herbert
Shirley
Donald
Ethel
Brooks/Cook
Mary
Brooks/Smart
William
E. Brooks
Josephine
Brooks
Ernest
R. Brooks
Georgia
Brooks/Sandridge
Grandmother
to:
Doris
Brecht/Vanderburg
Bonnie
Jean Brecht/ Williams
John
Keith Brecht
Ruth Louise Brecht
Victor Brecht
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