Bernard W. Brooks

06/13/2005

Bernard W. Brooks, 76, of Fairview Commons Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, formerly of Boardman Street, died Monday. Born in Manila, Philippines, on Sept. 22, 1928, son of Bernard W. and Emilie Becker Brooks, he attended a high school set up by internees at the Santo Tomas internment camp. After World War II, he moved to Long Island, N.Y., and attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute from 1946 to 1948. He graduated from Marlboro College in Marlboro, Vt., in 1952 and from Yale Law School in 1955. He participated in the Navy ROTC and served in the Navy from 1948 to 1949. After a brief career in law, Mr. Brooks was employed by Sheffield Plastics, beginning in 1957. He managed the company for 25 years, retiring as president in 1985. One of his proudest accomplishments was introducing Sheffield Plastics into the global market based largely on the development of extruded polycarbonate sheet in 1969. He was a trustee of the Bushnell-Sage Library in Sheffield, Marlboro College and a member of the board of the former First Agricultural Bank. An avid reader, he also enjoyed bird watching and amateur astronomy. He was fond of solving math problems by writing computer programs in GW-Basic. He leaves his former wife, Marilyn J. Brooks of Sheffield; two daughters, Constance N. Brooks of Windsor Locks, Conn., and Emilie Brooks of Portland, Ore.; three sons, 1st Lt. Kenneth B. Brooks, currently deployed in Iraq, John Brooks of Brookline, Maine, and Philip Brooks of Seattle; his twin brother, Curtis B. Brooks of Las Vegas, and a granddaughter. FUNERAL NOTICE -- Services for Bernard W. Brooks, who died Monday, June 13, 2005, will be Saturday, June 18, at 11 a.m. at the BIRCHES-ROY FUNERAL HOME with the Rev. John Lis officiating. A calling hour will precede the funeral service from 10 to 11 a.m. Burial will follow in Sheffield Center Cemetery. Family will receive friends at the funeral home on Friday, June 17, from 4 to 7 p.m. Expressions of sympathy in Bernard's memory may be made to the Bushnell-Sage Library in care of the funeral home, 33 South St., Great Barrington, MA 01230. His father managed electric power projects in the Philippines and was interned by the Japanese Army during World War II. He died of starvation during the internment and his mother was killed right before liberation of the camp, which was led by the First Cavalry Division Flying Column in February 1945.

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