Ethel Brooks
Obituary
Ethel Marie Brooks, 89, died on
Saturday (July 21, 2018) at Newton Presbyterian Manor. She was born
Sept. 30, 1928, in Pawhuska, Oklahoma, to Ira D. and Norma (Lindsay)
Barkman. She was their fourth child and first daughter.
At three weeks of age, her family moved
to Winfield, where her father was a farmer. As a young girl she
worked on the farm gardening and feeding the animals. She would say
it was "like living in a zoo." The workload increased
during WWII when her three brothers were in the service. The family
often got together with other family members, neighbors and friends.
Marie would cut hair and give permanents; "This is how people
got along, doing things for each other."
Marie graduated from Winfield High
School in 1946 and kept in touch with classmates, many who lived in
Winfield and Bartlesville, Oklahoma.
On June 1, 1948, Marie married Dale E.
Brooks in Winfield and lived at Kansas State University in Manhattan,
where Dale completed a degree in Agricultural Education. The focus of
her life was the care and raising of three daughters. Marie was a
devoted wife and mother and talented seamstress. They lived in a
number of Kansas towns, including Elk City, Clay Center, Beloit and
Newton.
She has been a resident of Newton for
50 years. Marie was a longtime active member of the Trinity Heights
United Methodist Church in Newton where she cared for many members'
families, helping in the kitchen with funeral dinners in addition to
the many other projects at the church she helped with through the
years.
Marie is survived by daughters: Beverly
Brooks of Cleveland, Tennessee, Diane Spear and her husband David of
Mannford, Oklahoma, and Sandy Hendrickson and her husband Mark of
Grove, Oklahoma; and sisters, Darlene Roe of Derby and Barbara
Watters of Wadsworth, Illinois. She also had four grandchildren; 10.5
great-grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews and their families
that survive.
She was preceded in death by her
parents; husband; and three brothers: Floyd, Ira and Raymond Barkman.
She is also preceded in death by two grandchildren, Erica and Brad
Hendrickson.
A gathering of remembrance and sharing
was held Monday (July 23, 2018) at Trinity Heights United Methodist
Church in Newton.
Memorials are suggested to Trinity
Heights Respite Care for its playground project.
