Leona Janette Newton Brooke

Leona was born December 2, 1919 in St. Paul, Minnesota, to Barney W. Newton and Effie T. Peterson Newton. She had two sisters, Bernice (Spenst) and Marilyn (Gustafson).

In the early 20's, the economy in the St. Paul area was in a downturn. There were fewer and fewer houses being built, so Grandpa Barney and Grandma Effie traded their house in St. Paul for a farm near Webster, Wisconsin. The farm came with a small log cabin for the family. Barney built a barn by hand, and they had chickens, cows and raised crops. Leona told us what it was like to pick cucumbers and beans in the hot sun during the long Wisconsin summers. She remembered herding cows on the banks of the Clam River in the summer, and sleeping on the sleeping porch in the cabin during the hot weather. In the winter, they slept in the attic, and she told us there were bats under the roof. She and her sisters used to hide under the blankets from the bats.

After High School, Leona went to Minneapolis to go to work for her Uncle Ray and Aunt Mattie in their dry cleaning business. She took classes at business school, and when she and a friend heard that Braniff Airlines was taking applications for women to work as reservation clerks, they applied.

The war had started and everything was in an uproar. She and her friend arrived in Kansas City to go to reservation school. On the first day, the instructors told them that they had a proposition. The male radio operators were being drafted, and the airline desperately needed replacements. They had decided to see if women could do the work. They were offering this first class a chance to take training to see if they could handle the job.

Leona said the training was hard, as they had to learn a lot about the mathematical basis of radio work. She found Morse code easy, and graduated second in her class. (The instructors were amazed that women could actually master code.) She went to work as a radio operator for Braniff, and stayed with them until the end of the war.

On a visit to a dude ranch near Dallas, Texas, she met a young Army Captain named Harold Brooke. Before long, they were engaged and they married in 1946, returning to his home in Detroit, Michigan. They bought a house in Berkley, where their children, Ken and Carol were born. Harold worked for General Electric and Leona grew a large garden, canned fruit and vegetables, made clothes for Ken and Carol, and baked bread.

In 1965, Hal was transferred to Houston, Texas. They lived in Spring Branch for several years, taking frequent trips to visit Ken and his wife, Cathy, and Carol and her husband, Rich Dorman. In the mid-80's they moved to Sula, Montana.

In Montana, they cut their own firewood, planted a garden and refurbished an old cabin on the banks of the Bitterroot River. Hal built (by himself) two garages for his cars and tools, and spent his time making croquet sets, children's toys and quilt racks for the family. Leona baked dozens and dozens of cookies for visiting grandchildren. She also explored the Bitterroot River with her grandchildren, panning for precious gems on the banks.

Their house was magical. There was a wonderful tire swing that could send a child all the way to the stars and a fenced garden with raspberries and strawberries that would change children into elves and wood sprites. The fairies kept stealing her carrots and the deer stole her flower bulbs. When her granddaughters visited, she would show them how to fly like Peter Pan before bed at night. She was an intrepid and fearless defender of house and home, chasing away fearsome moose with only a broom.

Leona and Hal moved to Virginia in 2002 to be nearer civilization, family, and further away from mountain weather and vicious moose. They lived with Ken and Cathy for several years, then entered Spring Arbor Assisted Living Center. In the summer of 2014, they moved in with Carol and Rich. Leona died, attended by her husband of 69 years and surrounded by her family on November 23, 2015.

In her lifetime, Leona accomplished so many things. She was understudy for many famous TV and Broadway moms, including June Cleaver, Mrs. Kent, Aunt May and Gracie Allen. She was a Master of Arts in English Literature, specializing in the works of Dorothy Sayers, Agatha Christie and other mystery writers. She read the entire set of Will and Ariel Durant's History of Civilization for amusement. She mastered Spanish sufficiently for her and Hal to take a long driving trip into Mexico. She held a degree in Chiropracty with a specialization in Back Massage and she practiced diligently on all of her family. She was an accomplished tour guide and with her grandson, Pete, she explored the darker and more isolated regions of the Smithsonian.

She was a master tailor, and could manage anything from upholstering sofas to curtains and fancy frocks. She was especially renowned for her children's clothing, having produced a full line of specialized baby rompers for her grandson, Pete. These suits were handed down to Pete's children, Jessica and Zachary who also wore them. She also sewed multiple warm fleece robes for the all her family - Ken and Cathy and their sons, Jason and Morgan; and Carol and Rich and their children, Pete, Mike, Annie and Sara. (Grandson Roger didn't get a robe, as he was working in India at the time.)

In her free time, she revisited her Norwegian heritage by putting together a raiding group to go a-viking with her grandson, Michael and her great-granddaughter, Leona, well-known members of the Rampage clan. They pillaged and laid waste to wide areas of the British Isles in their heyday. (Mike brought the oars and the longboat, and Leona provided the horns for the helmets.)

Leona was always an adventurer. She was part of the first expedition to the dark side of the moon, accompanied by her son, Ken. She conquered the wildest parts of Alaska with her grandson, Roger. She and her daughter in law, Cathy, set a record for the most molasses cookies ever baked at one time. She and her granddaughters, Ananda and Saranam followed in the footsteps of Lewis and Clark to explore the upper reaches of the Bitterroot River. She and her grandson, Morgan, developed the conceptual design of experimentally-fueled matchbox racing cars. Under her nom-de-sport, Pookie Brooke, Leona teamed with her grandson, Jason, to win several high level pool tournaments. She was also a world-class Chinese checker player and held a master's ranking in Rummikube.

She is survived by her husband, Harold Lee Brooke of Leesburg, VA, her sisters, Marilyn Gustafson of Minneapolis, MN, and Bernice Spenst of Thief River Falls, MN; her son, Kenneth Brooke and his wife, Cathy of Gainesville, VA; her daughter Carol (Dorman) and her husband, Rich, of Leesburg. Also by her grandchildren: Pedro I. Cohen, III, Jason W. Brooke, Michael L.B. Dorman, Morgan J. Brooke, Ananda E.H. Dorman-Seay, Saranam L.J. Brooks, Roger R. Rodriguez, and 7 great-grandchildren.

A gathering will be held on Saturday, December 5, 2015 from 1:00pm to 3:00pm at Colonial Funeral Home of Leesburg, 201 Edwards Ferry Rd, Leesburg, VA 20176.