John Brooks

John Franklin Brooks, 82, died at 10:44 p.m. Tuesday, May 5, 2015 at John Cochran VA Medical Center in St. Louis, MO. Born June 22, 1932 in Cottage Hills, IL, he was the son of William Vernon Brooks and Myrtle (Lanier) Waters. He served in the U.S. Navy on board the USS Laertes during the Korean War and transported troops from the ship to war areas. Mr. Brooks was an engineer for North American Aviation Space Division in Los Angeles, CA. He engineered/designed and worked on the command modules for the Gemini, Saturn and Apollo spacecraft. He also wrote all of the instrumentation for space capsules and was awarded innovation awards from NASA. On November 6, 1953 he married the former Billie Don Smothers in Bell, CA. She preceded him in death on March 9, 2014. Surviving is a daughter, Debbie Boyd of Overland Park, Kansas, two sons, Donald Brooks (Barbara) of Brighton, and David Brooks (Sherrie) of Fosterburg, 6 grandchildren, 12 great grandchildren, a brother, Raymond Brooks of Cottage Hills, and two sisters, Betty Dristell (Harold) of Cottage Hills, and Deane Jeffries of Cottage Hills, and his beloved cat Little Bit. Along with his parents and wife, he was preceded in death by two brothers, William “Bill” Brooks and a brother in infancy, and a brother-in-law, Charles Jeffries. Visitation will be from 4:00-7:00 p.m. Monday, May 11, 2015 at Gent Funeral Home in Alton. Burial will be at Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier, CA. Memorials may be made to a charity of choice. Online guestbook and information may be found at www.gentfuneralhome.com

Obit Provided By:
Gent Funeral Home