John Marion “Tootsie” Brooks, Sr., 87, of Tifton passed away Sunday, July 23, 2023, at Maple Court Assisted Living in Tifton surrounded by his wife and children. A graveside funeral service will be held for Mr. Brooks at 10:00 a.m. Thursday, July 27, 2023, at Tift Memorial Gardens, where he will be laid to rest. The Rev. Terry Siniard will officiate. The family will receive friends on Wednesday, July 26, 2023, from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. in the Chapel of Bowen-Donaldson Home for Funerals.
Members of the Tift County Sheriff’s Department will serve as pallbearers. Honorary pallbearers will be Mr. Brooks’ grandsons, Seth Hoodenpyle, Korey Horner, Josh Haskins, Kyle Haskins, Mark Willis and Jeff Watts.
Born June 10, 1936, at home in Omega, Mr. Brooks was the son of the late Claude Jackson Brooks and Ola Davis Brooks. He was also preceded in death by one son, John Marion Brooks, Jr.; two brothers, Claude Brooks and Jerry Brooks; and three sisters, Julia Goode, Naomi Terry and Gina Sizemore. Before retiring, he was a Major with the Tift County Sheriff’s Department for 33 years.
There was a side of John Brooks most people never saw. He enjoyed travel. It all started in 1981 when he and his wife, Lucy, started annual trips to Minnesota, Lucy’s home state. Lucy never liked to take the same road twice, so they started returning back to Georgia via a different route each trip. Lucy did all the planning and driving while John enjoyed the scenery. One return trip took them all the way from Minnesota to Georgia via Arizona! John developed a love affair with fishing in one of Minnesota’s many lakes. Late afternoon would find him and Lucy carrying their fishing gear down the hill to the dock. There were fishing tournaments each night: one trying to out fish the other. Most nights it was a draw, but there was never a night they came home “skunked.” When the fish weren’t biting they’d watch the mink, beaver, loon, fish osprey, eagles, turtles and deer enjoy the lake also. John at one time actually wanted to move to Minnesota. That is until one Christmas the car didn’t start for four days and the thermometer never got above zero!
After traveling back and forth for a number of years, they realized they had seen over half the states, and so began their quest to see all fifty. They spent at least one night in all fifty states except two, Montana and New Jersey. Oh, the things they saw! Some favorites were the Outer Banks of North Carolina, the road from Buffalo, New York to Thunder Bay in Canada, Yellowstone, Oregon, Alaska, and especially the Southwest. So many things to see - Arches NP, Zion NP, both rims of the Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, Las Vegas, to name a few. John’s favorite was Monument Valley. In his mind, he could see John Wayne being chased by Indians, shooting and circling the mesas.
Travel was not limited to The States. Trips included many parts of Canada, Mexico, and even Ireland and Northern Ireland. Some highlights were seeing the dock where the Titanic was built, the cliffs of Mohr and the Blarney Stone. No, he did not kiss it, but Lucy kissed it for both of them. There were sled dogs in the Yukon, the pipeline in Fairbanks, Resurrection Bay, and Copper Canyon in Mexico. After retirement John also enjoyed working outdoors turning two trash lots into a beautiful park-like yard with just a small chainsaw, a wheelbarrow and sweat. He did like a good Western movie though too!
John was able to travel this past June to his daughter’s home in Middleburg, Florida for his 87th birthday. All of his children were there as well as most of his grands and great-grands. After lunch John sat in the screen room watching everyone enjoying the double gazebo, swimming in the pool and running around in the lawn. With wonder in his voice, he said to his wife there beside him, “Just look at what I started!”.
Mr. Brooks is survived by his wife, Lucy Brooks of Tifton; two sons and one daughter-in-law, Michael Brooks of Valdosta and Kim and Eloise Rowe of Moultrie; two daughters and one son-in-law, Cheryle and Ray Lee of Middleburg, Florida and Karen Brooks of Valdosta; 13 grandchildren; and 27 great-grandchildren.