Jennie Lawana Brooks

1940 - 2022

Jennie Lawana Brooks, 82, passed away Tuesday, December 20, 2022 at her home in Blackfoot.

Jennie was born September 12, 1940 in Rigby, Idaho, the daughter of Francis Alma and Mary Jakeman Anderson. She spent her early childhood years in Rigby. She and her brother, Lanny, also spent a year living with relatives in Kerns, Utah, where she made many new friends and still kept in contact with them to the very end of her life. She and her family then moved to Pocatello, ID where she graduated from Pocatello High school in 1958. She continued her education at the Vocational Technical school at I.S.U and received a secretarial certificate in the spring of 1959.

When Jennie was being interviewed for a secretarial position with the Dean of Idaho State College (now Idaho State University), he asked her if she had any plans to marry, because he wanted to hire a secretary that would not up and leave after a few months. Jennie replied that she had no plans to leave the area nor to marry and was hired. She soon met her future husband and within three months of being hired as the dean's secretary, she married that Navy man named LeRoy Del Brooks on January 9th, 1960 and promptly moved to Connecticut. After 20 years in the Navy, they made their home in Blackfoot, Idaho; where Jennie lived in the same home for 50 years. A few years after LeRoy's death, Jennie chose to be sealed to him, as well as her children, on Nov. 23, 2018 in the Idaho Falls Idaho Temple.

Jennie not only enjoyed, but excelled at gardening, sewing, quilting, knitting, crocheting, needle point, painting, cooking, baking, canning, and bowling. She especially loved to spend time with her family playing both outdoor and indoor games. She almost always won at Scrabble, Farkle, and Cribbage. She also loved to put puzzles together; some were so difficult that it took her over a year to complete, but she never gave up...even when the puzzle picture was nothing but thousands of loose marbles. She also loved to read and to do crossword puzzles. She loved the outdoors, whether it was just being in the back yard or camping in the mountains. As Jennie got older, she loved to go on short weekend and/or day trips with her daughter, JoAnn Brooks; visiting her friends and reliving her childhood memories. Most of all, she loved to be with her family and just laugh, smile, and enjoy the gifts and blessings that the Lord had bestowed upon her.

Jennie Brooks was an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She never said no to a calling, and has served in many different ways throughout the years, including in the Relief Society, the Young Women's Organization, and Primary. She was even in charge of cleaning the church building for a year, as well as bringing the Relief Society to the senior citizens of the Willows Assisted Living Center. She never complained and always served with a genuine smile, laugh, and love for others, especially her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. She also enjoyed being apart of the Quilt Makers club as well as an active member of the Pindale Lanes women's bowling league. Her greatest calling above all was being the world's best mother and grandmother.

Jennie is survived by two of her older brothers: Rawleigh and Lanford Anderson, as well as her 5 loving children: Her sons Curtis Lynn (Jen) Brooks of Provo, UT; and Bradley Del (Belinda) Brooks of Nampa, ID; and her daughters Lawana Jean (Glen) Rowley of Heber, UT; Penny Alisa (Robert) Thomas of Meridian, ID; and JoAnn Brooks of Blackfoot, ID. She is also survived by many loving grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Jennie was preceded in death by her parents, Francis Alma Anderson and Mary Maria Jakeman; her siblings Alma Gerald Anderson, Marcella Shaw Anderson, Darville Anderson, Leslie James Anderson, Lynn Levoy Anderson, and Orretta Marie Anderson; and her husband LeRoy Del Brooks.

A funeral service will be held at 11:00 am Wednesday the 28th of December, 2022 at Hawker Funeral Home, 132 S. Shilling Avenue in Blackfoot. Family will receive friends from 6-8 pm Tuesday December 27th at the funeral home, as well as before the funeral at 10:00 am on Wednesday the 28th. Interment will follow at the Rigby Pioneer Cemetery (4023 Ririe Hwy, Rigby, ID 83442), followed by a luncheon for family and friends at the Blackfoot 3rd Ward Church house (845 Grant St., Blackfoot, ID 83221, the red brick building across from Walgreens drugstore).

Condolences may be shared with Jennie's family at www.hawkerfuneralhome.com.