Rose Lorene Brooks

Rose Lorene Brooks, 93, Rapid City, died Thursday, Feb 14, 2013 at Rapid City Regional Hospital. She was born to John and Ursula Rapp on Nov 24, 1919 in Kimball, the 3rd of 10 children, and they later moved to Hill City where she attended grade school and graduated high school. Rose married Paul C Brooks on July 2, 1936 and they lived on a claim outside of Hill City. They later moved to Mankato, MN, then to Wisconsin and back to Rapid City. They lived on Halley Ave for many years and Rose has resided in Rapid Valley for 55 years. She worked for the County Extension Service under the nutrition department for 22 years and after retiring from there, she opened a rest home and eventually closed that and finally retired at the age of 80. Although Rose is physically gone, she will always be in her loved ones’ hearts and memories. She will be missed and loved by all of her friends and family members in their own ways. Rose was a real pioneer. She was married very young and a mother at the age of 17, in difficult times with no paper diapers or formulas and all the other modern conveniences to assist in raising her babies; all 11 of them. She made a lot of her children’s clothes and meals from scratch, no fast food to alleviate her burden in those harsh times. Later after her retirement, she continued to enjoy sewing clothes, crafting handmade gifts, and painting novelty cards. She had beautiful hand-writing all her life. She told people that she loved creating things and giving them as gifts. She lived through the Great Depression and learned how to survive and taught her children how to make something out of almost nothing and be self-reliant. She made a very tasty bread pudding and mincemeat bars. She made sure that her children knew their responsibilities toward society and their own well being through her conscientious discipline and example. She was a hard worker and never shirked her duties toward anyone under her care for which all of her children and many others are very grateful. At the end of her time here, her body became weak and old, with her pain sometimes nearly impossible to bear. However, she maintained her dignity and insisted on making her own decisions right up to the last day of her life. She is home now, free of pain and worry. Rose is survived by her children, June (Richard) Michael, Sioux Falls; Donald Brooks, Mastic, NY; Mary Hershey-Brandner (Joel Brandner), Sturgis; John (Tish) Brooks, Las Vegas, NV; Gerald Brooks, Meredith, NH; Theodore (Barbara) Brooks, Grand Rapids, MI; Carol (Rodger) Armbrust, Springfield, OH; Lois (Jack) Albright, Alexander, NC; Alice (Donald) Pike and Walter Brooks, all of Rapid City; 23 grandchildren; 31 great grandchildren; 22 great-great grandchildren; 2 brothers, Theodore (Judy) Rapp, Rapid City; James (Pat) Rapp, St Charles, MO; her sister Francis Stapleburg, Lockeford, CA; her sister-in-law Dorothy Rapp, Rapid City and many nieces and nephews. She is preceded in death by her parents; her son Paul James Brooks; 3 brothers, Bernard, Richard and Leonard Rapp; 3 sisters, Pearl Wells, Mary Opal Carlin and Evelyn Young and her great grandson Johnny Hobart III.Condolences may be conveyed to the family at www.behrenswilson.com