Joyce Brooks

Our dear mother, grandmother, sister, aunt and friend Joyce Henderson Brooks passed away December 23, 2020 at the age of 87 in Goodyear, Arizona completing one of the worst years any of us could imagine. If you knew Joyce you certainly know she would want her obituary to be in her own words. This is Joyce’s life story as she told us many times. “I was born smack dab in the middle of the Depression on August 26, 1933 at home in Montrose, Colorado. Daddy had found work over the mountain in Del Nort, Colorado and we had no family to be with Mother for the “big event” so she went to her parents’ house for the “birthing.” When the time arrived the word went out over the mountain to Daddy, over the phone line to Dr. Lockwood and to all family members within shouting distance–“come home NOW!” Daddy drove like a maniac, Mother labored, Dr. Lockwood did what was expected of country doctors and Granny McKelvey started frying chickens and making peach pies–any excuse for a party. Two years later the same scenario occurred for the arrival of my brother, George. 2 1/2 years after that the baby of the family, Glen, arrived in a more civilized manner in a hospital with no smells of frying chicken from the kitchen wafting into the birthing room. In retrospect I know we were a poor family. We moved from the Valley of Sun in Arizona to the western slope of the Rockies in Colorado following the crops so Daddy could work to support his family. Mother and Daddy saved enough to buy a little house in DeBeque, Colorado. It was during one of our winters in Arizona that I started school, attending Cartwright Elementary School for a couple of months as a first grader until illness–measles, scarlet fever, and rheumatic fever knocked out the rest of that year. I don’t know how my poor mother handled all of that, being quarantined with a one year old baby, an active 3 year old little boy and a very spoiled rotten 6 year old girl all alone. I recovered nicely, just a little heart murmur and perhaps a little attitude problem lingered (oh yeah!). Daddy accepted a job as a produce foreman in the Imperial Valley in California and then back to Tolleson when those crops were ready. With steady work Mother and Daddy felt they could sell the Colorado house and buy a house in Tolleson, Arizona. They bought a little frame house about a block from the railroad tracks. Tolleson was home and California was vacation time in our minds. I was about 12 when Daddy’s boss made a proposition he couldn’t refuse. Daddy would be able to grow his own crops, while marketing them through his sheds. What a wonderful time, no more traveling from state to state. I graduated from Tolleson Elementary School and TUHS where I met the love of my life, but I didn’t know it, Bruce Brooks. I loved high school and participated in everything I could. I wasn’t allowed to date until age 16. I accepted this, but I still went to every dance not with a date but with my mother so I quickly learned how to flirt, meet boys and make girls jealous all while my mother was watching. Remember the little white house next to the railroad tracks? It had a little porch on the front of the house. WOW, if you timed the good night kiss with the passing of the train, it was quite a sensation! My steady beau was soon my only beau, Bruce Bryant Brooks. We graduated from TUHS in 1951 and entered ASU. Bruce was taking agriculture and I entered pre-med. My claim to fame while trying to earn a little extra money was milking scorpions. Boy, have I gotten a lot of mileage out of telling that story over the years! We were both good students, but at the end of the first year we knew we wanted to be married. Our families gave us their blessing and on June 1, 1952 we were married at Bruce’s family church, the Margaret Brooks Memorial Methodist Church. Our first home was a little white frame house on the corner of Lateral 20 (75th Avenue) and West Van Buren that was called “the weaning house”, as all three Brooks boys brought their new brides to this little house to start their married life. Bruce had leased a small 20 acre farm and he bought 6 baby calves that we bottle fed and we had $85 in the bank. We felt rich. Our baby daughter, Brenna Cheryl, was born June 11, 1953. What a wonderful time, but also a horrible time. The night I went to the hospital to deliver, my father Ralph Henderson went to another hospital with a massive heart attack. I never saw him again. He died June 25, 1953 at age 46. I had complications that kept me from going to the hospital where he was. At this time Mother was just 40 years old. She was a new grandmother, had a son in college and a teenage son at home still in high school. Two boys to get through college and an ache in her heart that never went away. She got busy. She signed up for a speed writing course and found a job at Waddell Farms keeping office records. Through her tenacity both boys graduated from college. Michael Bruce Brooks was born May 8, 1955. The “weaning house” was now over flowing. Bruce had increased his farming acreage and he and his father had sold the dairy. We started looking for a bigger house. We bought in Tolleson at on Taylor Street and loved it. We settled into the neighborhood. We made friends with all the families in the area. Most of them had children close to Brenna and Michael’s age so life was good. When Michael was about 2 years old Mother remarried and moved to the Casa Grande Ruins and a new life. Bruce and I were also looking forward to a new life in our family. Dana Lynn Brooks arrived August 23, 1958 to complete our family. The ensuing years were busy as Bruce kept increasing the farming acreage and partnered with his dad in a cattle feeding operation. I was busy getting our children to all of their activities. We were getting very crowded in our three bedroom, one-bath house. When we started talking of enlarging our home, Bruce’s father approached us about buying the old farmhouse and he would build a new house on the farm. It was a perfect solution. We moved in 1967, and Bruce felt he had moved home because he was born in the old house. The high school and college years came next. Once everyone was off to college, the nest was now empty. Bruce and I were excited to start the next phase of our life together. He got very involved in SRP and that meant meetings and new challenges. It also meant some traveling and we loved it. Bruce and Bob Schulke formed a business partnership and it flourished. The farming grew to several thousand acres and life was good! The children all married. Some more successful than others, but eventually they all ended up in happy situations. We loved being grandparents to 5 beautiful children. Christmas was such fun. They all came home to the farm loaded with packages and big appetites. The old house was full again. In December 1997 our hearts were broken when Bruce passed away from cancer. The family was devastated. After four years passed, retirement, quilting and travel filled the emptiness in my life. Life was almost good!” In addition to her story in her words a few other things bear mentioning. She was a terrific cook. Mexican food was her specialty. Several friends encouraged her to open her own restaurant. She replied in her indomitable way that it is way too much work! She was a fabulous quilter. When she moved to Goodyear she had a casita on her property that is “the quilt room”. It is a quilter’s paradise. There were times that everyone who came to quilt couldn’t fit, but Mother the consummate hostess, got a folding chair and some ladies sat outside until it was their turn on one of the machines. As a hostess, there was no one better. She gave many parties for their tennis group, other friends and relatives. Oh yes, they took up tennis in their 50’s. They went on many jaunts with the tennis group over the years. In addition, Mother traveled to many countries. Her sister-in-law counted 32 countries they had visited. She is survived by her three children Brenna Brooks-Gabrielson (Jon), Michael Bruce (Margie) and Dana Scheinost (Bill). Also, 5 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren, two brothers and sisters-in-law and many friends. Now that there has been a glorious reunion in Heaven and Joyce is back with Bruce, life is good again! Privates services to be held. In lieu of flowers and if you are so inclined, donations can be sent to the Bruce Brooks Memorial Scholarship in care of ASU, P. O. Box 872706, Tempe AZ 85287.