William Joseph Brooks 1937-2023. Bill passed away unexpectedly in his home on February 16, 2023 in Burlington, Kansas.

Bill was born April 12, 1937 in San Jose, California to Hollin and Helen Brooks.

Preceding Bill's passing was his Brother Hollin, Mother & Father and Uncle Lock Martin (Gort in The Day the Earth Stood Still Movie 1951).

His remaining family includes Gary Brooks of Ada, Oklahoma, Sean (Elizabeth) Brooks of San Francisco, Jeanine Brooks (Roger Schmidt) of Sitka, Alaska.

Grandchildren are: Elise Brooks, Maren Brooks, Anja Brooks-Schmidt and Mina Brooks-Schmidt.

Bill was raised in Hollister and began working in his Father's grocery store from 1945-1955.

He attended Californa State Polytechnic University in San Luis Obispo attaining a Bachelor of Science Degree in Architectural Engineering from 1955 to 1960. Later he went to Illiff School of Theology in Denver, CO receiving a Master of Divinity.

Bill was a plumbing designer as a private consultant for schools and hospitals from 1960-1963.  In 1963-1967 he was the Construction Manager for the City of Cupertino.

In 1967 Bill began working for the US Forest Service as an Assistant Forest Engineer in the Eldorado National Forest, moved to Inyo National Forest in Bishop California in 1972 and then transferred to Fresno California for a year before moving to become a Forest Engineer in Sitka, Alaska in 1976 and remained in that position until 1981.

Bill always had a story to tell about the Forest Service jobs he had. Working in the wilderness was always interesting.

In 1991 Bill was Project Manager for SouthEast Regional Health Consortium in Sitka, Alaska until 2005 where he facilitated many million dollar contracts and upgrades for the hospital and community health offices.

His final job was in Ada, Oklahoma where he was the Project Manager for the design and construction of the largest Native American funded Hospital in the United States in 2006 and retired in 2013. This construction project was completed in August 2010 on schedule and within the original budget.

Bill enjoyed singing in the church choir, traveling, good conversation to connect with people, participating in many organizations wherever he lived-like Kiwanis and Lions Club. He made friends easily and always had some meeting or gathering to attend.

Some history he personally witnessed was his front living room window being shattered by the newspaper thrown in it about Pearl Harbor and knowing folks who went to the Japanese internment camps in California.