Frances Kennard Brooks

FRANCES KENNARD BROOKS a longtime resident of Greenwich, died on Friday, January 30, 2009, at the age of 90. She leaves behind five children, Peter Lloyd, Robin Lynn, Leslie Anne, Karen Jean, and Susan Frances Brooks Brody; two stepsons, Robert Thomas Brooks, Jr and Michael Pierce Brooks; eleven grandchildren, Sarah, Liza, Loren and Patrick Burke, Ashley Hunter, Emily Brody, Willis and Nolka Bates, Rebeccah and Taylor Brooks, Robert T Brooks III, and one great-grandchild, Sienna Brooks, as well as three brother, Hayes, Ivan and Joseph Kennard. Frances was born on Jan 6th, 1919 in Mt Carmel, Ill, daughter of a minister and evangelist singer, Ephraim Kennard and his wife Leora Schrodt. After teaching penmanship in grade school there, she left Illinois to travel as a member of the Red Cross (Entertainment Division) working as club director for the occupation as the US troops moved across Europe until the end of WWII when she was stationed in Japan. It was there that she met her husband, the late Robert Thomas Brooks. Together they started one of the first international marketing companies, Dunham and Smith. They moved to Greenwich from Japan in 1957, and Dunham and Smith was headquarted here until a few years after her husband's sudden death in 1979. Frances was a remarkable woman. An avid gardener, watercolor artist, fabric designer, teacher, singer, business woman, mother and grandmother, she was on the board of the Greenwich Art Society, a volunteer at the Garden Center, docent at SUNY Purchase, member of the First Church of Round Hill, the Round Hill Guild, the American Pen Women and the National Arts Club. She also did taxes for the elderly at the Senior Center, and for many years was on the house and garden tour. Fran studied at the Art Institute in Chicago, the Art Students League and Silvermine Guild of Art. She received her master's degree at Pratt Institute. Her greatest influences were the Ikebana "Sogetsu School" in Tokyo (the renowned school of Japanese flower arranging), sumi-e painting with Aiko Yamaguchi, life drawing with George Bridgman, and the elements and principles of design with Edgar Whitney. She had a passion for flowers, and this was the subject of most of her paintings. She said that their designs, patterns and color relationships intrigued her; their freshness, vitality and movement were a challenge to her. She shared her interest and knowledge of flowers by volunteering at the Greenwich Education Center. Her own garden is a true place of tranquility with its 500-foot perennial border. It has nearly 100 different perennials, annuals and shrubs. Fran Brooks was a force of nature. Her indomitable spirit and strength of will was an inspiration and support to many. In 1949 she silkscreened her own wedding dress. On days off in Europe, she hitch-hiked to the opera in Vienna, Salzburg. Not only was she an artist, she sponsored the arts. She entertained Japanese-English sculptor Isamu Noguchi and his movie star wife Shirley Yamaguchi. She sponsored internationally renowned artist Genichiro Inokuma and his wife to New York. She was not afraid to exhibit her farm-girl nature, often known to hand-deliver her fresh-picked raspberries to new residents in her exclusive Round Hill neighborhood. Her friends at the Greenwich Education Center say of her: "She is the example of kindness, willingness, dedication and generosity that we are all hoping to become." Services will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, February 7, at the First Church of Round Hill at 464 Round Hill Rd, Greenwich, CT. 203-629-3876. Donations may be made to the Home Hospice Care of Greenwich, c/o the Greenwich Hospital, 5 Perryridge Rd, Greenwich, CT 06830 or the Garden Education Center of Greenwich, Inc., 130 Bible St, Cos Cob, CT 06807"