Name: Visitation
Start: 07/23/2016 01:00 PM
End: 07/23/2016 03:00 PM
Location: Colonial Funeral Home of Leesburg

‹ ‹ Return to Current Obituaries

Share

IN LOVING MEMORY OF

Harold L.

Brooke

January 20, 1920 – July 11, 2016

Send a Card

Obituary

Hal (Harold) Brooke
January 20, 1920 – July 11, 2016

Hal passed away peacefully late in the morning
at home with his children and care-givers, finally
succumbing to several chronic health conditions

T his love story began just after World War II at a dude ranch north of Dallas, TX, where a young Army captain named Hal (Harold) met an airline radio operator named Lee (Leona) while both were on vacation, and they fell in love. They soon got married and moved into a small apartment not far from where he grew up and where his parents lived, in Detroit, Michigan. They soon outgrew it following the birth of their son, and bought and moved to their house in the suburbs (Berkley), where they raised Ken and his little sister Carol. His job as an engineer at General Electric, manufacturing carbide cutting tools, eventually led the family to Houston, TX, in support of the oil drilling industry. Ken left to join the Air Force before they moved, and Carol went away to college after they moved, both starting their own families soon thereafter. After an overseas tour with GE in Russia, Hal finally retired, and not long after that he and Lee moved to Montana to escape the Gulf Coast heat, be nearer Carol and her family, and to enjoy the mountains. Grandchildren had started appearing in 1971, with Carol's son Pedro (Pete), eventually making for a very full house when the whole family gathered.

Further chapters of this continuing love story are continue being written by:

Two children
Kenneth Brooke and Carol Dorman

Eleven grandchildren
Jason and Morgan Brooke; Saranam Brooks; Pedro Cohen, III; Rachel Connolly; Richard Jr.,
Michael, and Ananda Dorman; Roger Rodriguez; Dawna Smith; and Melissa Watson

Twelve great-grandchildren
Jessica and Zachary Cohen; Joshua, Tim, Samantha, and Leona Dorman; Sara, Richard
Elizabeth Miller; Layla Seay; and April and Chris Smith;
and the littlest Brooke, due to Morgan & Michelle in February 2017.

H al and Lee loved the outdoors, and the annual family vacations were camping trips to many locations in the north central US. This extended to Boy Scouts while Ken was of age, their choice of a mountain home site in Montana, and then into fishing as his main hobby his whole life. We have memories of ice fishing at midnight in the middle of Lakes St. Claire, violent thunderstorms in the middle of Lake St. Claire, violent thunderstorms at primitive campsites in the deep woods, and surf fishing on the Galveston beach.

B eing an engineer that honored the old school traditions, he expressed himself in the tangible genre of practical things useful to his family. Examples ranged from the small to the tall, and included science fairs and carpentry projects, vehicles and laboratory projects, drawings and applied mathematics. Remodeling and finishing of their first house in Michigan and their retirement house in Montana were two of his major projects. He employing those same skills to raise pocket money and to improve their townhouse community in Houston. He became the on-call handyman of choice for the entire development, as well as the family expert for Ken's and Carol's projects. Later in life, he turned his attention to toy-making for fun (for the later family generations) and profit (tourist stores). Ken got him interested in amateur radio, and soon he was collecting QSL cards and many home-built radio antennas decorated the home site. Late in his seventies, wanting to fill some of the empty winter hours in the mountains, he became one of the more senior web surfers on the new internet. He remained an avid reader and tinkerer, often devouring more than a book every day while he investigated various household gadgets. When he ran out of interesting things to investigate, he built his own gadgets, gizmos, and other objects of mysterious function.

A s Hal and Leona became more elderly and less nimble and ambulatory, the more isolated Montana life became impractical. They eventually sold their mountain homestead and moved near Ken and Carol, living in Northern Virginia. They lived for a while in their own apartment, then in an assisted living facility, and with each child. Lee passed on in November of 2015, and Hal followed nine months later. They had always thought Hal would go first, and he never really adjusted to being alone.

T heir family remembers and misses Hal and Leona, each in their own loving way. As the parent who shared every part of growing up. As the sister, brother, aunt, and uncle who lived in all these different and interesting places. As the grandparent who provided entertainment, recreation, counseling, and a different perspective. As a great-grandparent appearing as a mysterious, strange, and curious part of family life. All now trying to heal that empty place with these memories.

F riends remember and miss them, too. As care-givers and companions. As neighbors and acquaintances, who think of the quiet couple who was always involved in such interesting things. As brethren who recall the faithful couple quietly worshiping from a pew in the back at St. Andrews. As clergy who continued to visit long after they could no longer attend services.

W e think we know why Christ called our engineer home. It's easy to imagine Dad helping to prepare many mansions for us, and him having fun on such a large project.

In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you.
I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you,
I will come again, and receive you unto myself;
that where I am, there ye may be also. -John 14: 2-3

A memorial service is scheduled for 1:00 pm on Saturday, July 23, 2016 at Colonial Funeral Home, 201 Edwards Ferry Road NE, Leesburg, Virginia 20176. Family and friends are encouraged to stay for a time of visitation following the service.

Captain Harold Brooke will be honored for his service during a Graveside Ceremony at Quantico National Cemetery on August 1, 2016 at 11:00 am.

To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Harold L. Brooke, please visit our flower store.