Name: Visitation for Frederick P. Brooks Jr.
Start: 2022-11-22T00:00:00.000Z
End: 2022-11-22T02:00:00.000Z
Location: Orange United Methodist Church

Frederick P. Brooks Jr.
April 19, 1931 - November 17, 2022
Chapel Hill, North Carolina - Frederick Phillips Brooks Jr. of Chapel Hill went home to be with his Lord on November 17, 2022.
Born on April 19, 1931, Dr. Brooks grew up in Greenville, North Carolina, graduated from Duke University, and received his Ph.D. in Computer Science at Harvard University. He joined IBM in Poughkeepsie, NY and became internationally known for his leadership of the development of the IBM System/360 computer family, and for his book "The Mythical Man-Month: Essays on Software Engineering," which captured lessons learned from that pioneering project. Dr. Brooks' seminal work in computer architecture and software engineering was recognized with the National Medal of Technology, awarded by President Reagan in 1985.
In 1964 Dr. Brooks joined UNC- Chapel Hill as founder, first professor and for twenty years Chairman of the Department of Computer Science, where he built that department into prominence and actively taught and researched for 51 years. In 1991 he was awarded the ACM Turing Award, the highest honor in computer science.
Far more important to him than his professional accomplishments, Dr. Brooks was a faithful follower of his Lord Jesus Christ, in whom he placed his trust and hope in life and in death. He taught Sunday School at Orange United Methodist Church in Chapel Hill for over 50 years, served as Chairman of the 1973 Triangle Billy Graham Crusade, served as the founding chairman of the boards of both the North Carolina (Christian) Study Center at UNC and Trinity School of Durham and Chapel Hill, and served for decades as faculty advisor to the UNC graduate chapter of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship (FOCUS).
Fred is survived by his beloved wife of 66 years, Nancy Greenwood Brooks, his brother John C. Brooks (Nancy Jane), of Raleigh, his children, Kenneth P. Brooks, Roger G. Brooks (Ann), and Barbara B. La Dine (Jeffrey), all of Chapel Hill, nine grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. He was pre-deceased by his brother, Henry Franklin Brooks.
A visitation will be held at Orange United Methodist Church in Chapel Hill Monday evening, November 21, from 7 to 9 p.m. The funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, November 22, at the Chapel Hill Bible Church. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to the N.C. Study Center, or to Trinity School of Durham and Chapel Hill.

To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.

Published by The Herald Sun on Nov. 20, 2022.

Memories and Condolences
for Frederick Brooks

Sponsored by Walker's Funeral Home of Chapel Hill.

16 Entries

Darlene Freedman

November 14, 2024

I felt honored to have known Dr. Brooks and I felt privileged and very proud to work for him at UNC Chapel Hill. He was unparalleled in his mission to promote education. He was a kind and caring man. I think of him often and I miss him.

Alan

April 21, 2024

Did Dr Brooks ever run a summer camp and administer a summer swim program in Lake Mohegan New York circa 1958? Thanks for any info. Contact email "[email protected]"

Marco Valtorta

March 21, 2023

I was privileged to take three graduate courses (Computer Architecture, Software Engineering, and a topics course on professional issues) from Professor Brooks in the early 1980s, while a computer science graduate student at Duke University. I will never forget his smile and will be forever grateful for his kindness, wise counsel, and the generous offer of taking me as his Ph.D. student, which I regretfully declined because my main research interest was in a different area.

Darlene Freedman

December 8, 2022

I was privileged and honored to work with Dr. Brooks, as his secretary, at UNC. We kept in touch through the years and I always looked forward to reading his incredible Christmas letters, full of joy, family updates, travel and, of course, continued work. He was patient and had time for everyone. I am so proud to have been able to support this very intelligent, kind and humble man. I will miss him.
My thoughts and prayers are with Nancy, Roger, Kenneth, Barbara and their families.

Darlene & Ron Freedman

Planted Trees

Dick Dowdell

November 29, 2022

Thank you Fred!

Fred Brooks words and example have been a guiding light for me in a so far 50-year software development career.

That Fred took the time to communicate the insights he had earned while creating the System/360 has helped so many of us succeed in our chosen software careers. I hope he had as much fun building software as I have.

By coincidence, I had just shared some of Fred's wisdom in an article published earlier in November: https://medium.com/the-techlife/comments-on-great-designers-c7d99bc73e95?source=friends_link&sk=4b91a6050e77759bc67bb2ccf20e2763

Douglas Evans

November 26, 2022

I am so sad to read this. Fred was a dear friend of my father, Bob Evans. They worked together on the IBM 360. Fred came to my father's memorial. Had I known in time, I would most certainly have attended his. My thoughts are with his family. His was a life well-lived.

Renata Germino

November 26, 2022

Dear Brooks family, We are sending you lots of love and prayers. Thank you so much for being such dear and important friends to our parents, Dante and Virginia Germino. They both admired and respected you so much and you meant the world to them. Lots of love, Renata Germino and family

Prof. Aditi Majumder

November 23, 2022

From Aditi Majumder (graduate student at UNC-CS from 1996-2003 and now faculty at UC-Irvine): I had the special privilege of being touched by Dr. Brooks as a grad student and over the years that followed. As I am overcome with sadness with the passing of his era, my own memories of him come flooding back. He used to attend every Wednesday Graphics lunch, a platform for PhD students to give practice talks before going out in the world to give the talk. When many would strive hard to get Dr. Brooks' audience, we used to get him every time we practiced a talk -- an awe-inspiring and intimidating experience at the same time. You may see him dozing off in the middle of the talk but be prepared -- the question he will ask at the end of the talk almost always will leave you completely stumped. I remember him sitting by his statue in the reading room deeply engaged in some work. Often if we drop by his office around lunch hour we will see him napping in his famous comfortable chair well-visible from the glass opening in his door with the well-know clock beside him that showed his wake-up time. I remember his committed presence in every UNC reunion during Siggraph, even when he was not in the best health. He would take the time to meet the family (especially young children) of graduated students and engage is conversations with them. His door was always open when students are making career decisions. I still remember walking into his office when trying to decide whether to accept assistant professor position in U of Arizona or UCI. Instead of giving an answer, he told me and Gopi to come up with 10 objective factors important to us and put it on the board and then give points to each of the candidate universities for these factors. We should then add the points up and then see which one wins. If we are sad by the one which emerged the winner, we should not go there. If we are happy by the emerged winner, we should go there. "This way you will make the right decision, but you will have a objective idea of what you can or cannot expect from where life takes you next" -- he said. This experience showed me how to guide without imposing, how to mentor others to let their hearts win while having rational clarity in every decision they take. His philosophies on how to run our career and personal life if we want to leave a mark probably got assimilated into our value system before we could understand their value. Dr. Brooks leaves a tremendous legacy behind him and blessed are the lesser mortals like us whose paths crossed his at our impressionable young age. May his soul rest in peace.

Martha h oneill

November 22, 2022

We met Dr. Brooks and Mrs Books here on Caswell Beach. We built our home 20 years ago; Fred and Nancy had been here at least 50 or more years before us. Fred was always welcoming and made his access to the beach our access. He could tell a story and would often recite all types of poetry for me. When they were down we would go out to eat with whomever was in their home;all were welcome. I will miss Dr. Brooks. He was a smart, wordly man who always took time to visit with us.

Linda L. Woodard

November 21, 2022

Many years ago, I met Dr. Brooks during the Campus Y´s 3-day International Handicraft Bazaar, as he had included some of his sketches to be sold with the Y getting a portion (or all? I´m not sure) of the proceeds. I have had one of those hanging on my wall ever since that weekend. Such a wonderful generous caring individual.... I´m sorry to know that he´s no longer physically present, but am certain he is part of that great cloud of witnesses above. Linda L. Woodard

Heman Robinson

November 21, 2022

Ah, he taught me everything.

Such a long and useful life so well lived. All of us who knew him have been blessed.

Whit (and Amy) Jones

November 19, 2022

Dr. and Mrs. Brooks were wonderful mentors and friends when I was getting my Master's and doctorate in English at UNC-Chapel Hill and was a member of Focus, the UNC graduate chapter of Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship. Dr. Brooks was an illustrious figure in the field of computer science, as everyone knew, yet he'd have an apron on many Friday evenings as he helped serve supper at his home to hungry graduate students who had come for a Focus meeting at his home, and he'd be helping Nancy wash dishes afterwards. For all their impressive abilities and accomplishments, Fred and Nancy were always humbly offering themselves in service to others.
When Dr. Brooks was the speaker at a few Focus meetings, I was always amazed, as an English graduate student, at the remarkable articulateness of this computer scientist. Dr. Brooks could explain the most complex concepts in almost any subject area in the clearest possible way. His words were always unpretentious yet incisive. His knowledge of God's word and God's ways was deep, and he helped me understand the Bible and its application to many areas of life and scholarship in a deeper way. One of the Focus meetings that had the greatest impact on me was one in which Dr. and Mrs. Brooks spoke on Christian marriage, giving examples of how the Lord had worked in theirs. I gained my first vivid glimpse of what it might look like for a husband to offer Christ-like love to his wife and for her to be his respectful, fruitful helpmate. My wife, Amy, and I both knew the Brookses before we knew each other, and when we decided that our relationship was headed toward engagement and marriage, they were two people whom we had to tell. Their wisdom and example have been an invaluable guide for our marriage for over thirty-four years. Dr. Brooks always seemed to me to be a pillar of wisdom and strength, and Mrs. Brooks was for me on a number of occasions a treasured counselor, confidante, and encourager. Their home was a place of refuge for me and a source of light, love, and hope. I still remember the gatherings in Chapel Hill near Christmas to sing pieces from Handel's "Messiah," an event that Mrs. Brooks helped organize and played in for many years. As I remember those wonderful "Messiah" sings and all the special times I had at the Brooks' home--all the ways Fred and Nancy loved and instructed and encouraged me in the ways of the Lord--I can only sing again "Hallelujah! For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth!" He spoke to me in complex, powerful, and beautiful ways through the brilliance, faithfulness, humility, hospitality, love, and wisdom of Fred Brooks and his wonderful Nancy.

Betty Gray

November 19, 2022

Nancy, Rick and I are very sorry to hear of Fred's passing. He lived a wonderful life and was an inspiration to many - both professionally and personally. Our sincerest condolences to you, Ken, Roger, Barbara and all of the family.

Jim & Fran Lines

November 19, 2022

Dear Sister Brooks,
We are so sorry to receive this news, but rejoice in knowing where Fred is.
Please know that we are praying for you during this difficult time.
Lovingly, Jim & Fran Lines