Retired United Airlines Captain Leo Cooper Brooks Jr. of Westport Point MA passed away at home on Monday June 6, 2016. He was 68 years old.
Leo was born November 2, 1947 in Washington DC to Colonel Leo C. Brooks and his wife Mary “Dink” and became the third generation in a proud military family. His earliest desire was to follow his father into aviation, and he accomplished his dream in spades.
He served in Vietnam flying 110 missions in an AC-119 K Gunship, where he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and The Air Medal. After Vietnam, he flew refueling tankers for the Strategic Air Command, receiving many commendations for natural leadership, strong judgment, and exceptional flying skills. Leo remained in the US Air Force for six years before joining the Reserves as he also joined Continental Airlines.
He not only distinguished himself as a “great stick,” but as a much beloved and respected instructor and check airman. He flew for 41 years, over 28,000 hours, including 39 years as a Command Pilot with 35 years in heavy jets. For many years he was a Line Check Airman and Proficiency Check Airman on Airbus 300s, Boeing 757s, 767s, and 777s. He was Flight Test Lead for the DC-10 fleet, and a Boeing 747 Instructor Pilot. He helped set up airlines on behalf of Continental for Ireland, Greece, Pakistan, and Turkey, among others.
The thread that wove through his career as a pilot was his love of people and food. In Vietnam he organized memorable dinners for all, undaunted by the idea of feeding fifty to sixty air crew with steaks and scotch he had located by any means possible. When later furloughed from Continental for two years, he captained non-scheduled flights of a B-707 all over Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, gently ferrying pregnant cows from Holland to Nigeria, or State-Department-sanctioned supplies to our then-ally Iraq. He did his job well, and he also went into every kitchen he came close to, learning about strange and wonderful foods and gathering recipes everywhere he went. In later years, his wife would marvel at how many pantry items appeared out of his bag, including the best saffron and delicious wierd marinated things.
He and his wife Barbara Hanley met and married in Miami, Florida, and moved to Westport in 1995 from Boston. He continued flying with Continental Airlines after it merged with United Airlines until he retired in November 2012, meanwhile co-founding cheese company Shy Brothers Farm® with his wife and dairy farmers Karl, Kevin, Norman, and Arthur Santos. Leo loved to fish and cook, and, when not in a cockpit, was happiest with his dogs or in front of a cook fire at Boat Beach. In the last few months, he got to visit the mountain field in Serbia where his father had led Operation Halyard, a stealth rescue mission of 269 downed pilots under the German forces’ nose in World War II. Leo was a quiet, kind, and generous man, and he will be missed by many.
Leo is survived by his wife Barbara and his brother Joe Brooks of Orlando Florida, as well as many friends and colleagues around the country. In lieu of flowers, he would be grateful for support of The Southern Poverty Law Center at 400 Washington Avenue, Montgomery AL 36104. https://donate.splcenter.org/
Arrangements are private.