Brooks Walker Jr.

1928 - 2024

Brooks Walker Jr.
04/28/1928 - 09/17/2024
Brooks Walker Jr., a business and civic leader of many decades, passed away at his home on September 17, 2024. He was 96 years old. Brooks was a third-generation Californian, born in Oakland on April 28, 1928, to Brooks and Marjorie Walker.
Brooks was fortunate to have deep pioneering roots in the state of Calif. His mother's father, Percival John Walker, (yes, his mother's maiden name was also Walker) was a successful general contractor who began building in San Francisco in 1895, and in Los Angeles in 1920. Brooks' maternal grandmother, Edith Jennings Lynn, arrived in the state after traveling by steam ship from N.Y. around Cape Horn in the late 1800s.
Clinton Walker, his paternal grandfather, arrived in Calif. in 1894, from Minneapolis. He was sent by his father, T.B. Walker, to survey and purchase large tracts of timberland in northern Calif., for the Red River Company. These timberland holdings remained in the family until 2022.
Brooks spent his early years in Piedmont, Calif., until the outbreak of World War II, when his family moved to Washington, D.C. His father, Brooks Sr., joined the army and served as a Colonel in the Pentagon. Brooks and his younger brother, John (Sandy), attended Sidwell Friends School, commuting to school in an economical two-seat 1939 Crosley, which they ran on a mix of gasoline and cleaning fluid to extend their limited gas rations. Brooks played soccer and showed an early proclivity for leadership by becoming student body president. After high school, Brooks attended UC Berkeley and joined the DEKE fraternity, where he made friends he would keep for the rest of his life. Three days after graduating from UC Berkeley in 1950, Brooks took a trip around the world with his grandmother, Della Walker, visiting 17 different countries in 50 days.
While they were traveling, the Korean War broke out, and Brooks faced the prospect of being drafted. Upon returning, Brooks joined the Navy and served as a Lieutenant pilot for five years on the aircraft carriers Yorktown and Essex. He flew an AD Skyraider, and practiced his management skills as the administrative officer of his squadron. When on leave from the carriers, Brooks was stationed in Alameda, and demonstrated uncharacteristic youthful exuberance by flying under the Golden Gate Bridge. On another occasion, during a practice flight, his AD Skyraider had an engine failure, and he ditched the plane in San Francisco Bay, emerging unhurt, but shaken and wet. During one of his leaves from the Navy, Brooks met his first wife, Margaret (Peggy) Kirby, at the engagement party of lifelong friends, Don and Doris Fisher.
After the war, Brooks and Peggy were married and moved to Boston, where he attended Harvard Business School on the GI Bill. Their daughter, Kirby, was born in Boston in 1956. With his MBA in hand, they returned to San Francisco, and Brooks took an entry level job with United States Leasing International, at the time a small start-up specializing in structuring large corporate lease deals. He worked hard traveling frequently to N.Y.C., London, Frankfurt and Tokyo. His leadership skills were tested, and he rose quickly to become CEO and Chairman at age 40. Brooks spent most of his career at USL Corp (formerly United States Leasing International) and served on many corporate boards, among them The Gap, Greylock, Pope and Talbot, Dillingham Corp, Leslie Salt, Schwab Charitable, AT&T and the New England Fish Company.
Brooks' positions of civic leadership were as varied as his business ones. Among the organizations that he gave his time and talent were: Planned Parenthood, Walker Art Center, Ft, Mason Foundation, SF Opera, Addiction Research Foundation, SF Foundation, Pacific Legal Foundation, Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute, and the boards of his children's schools. He served as chairman of SFMoMA from 1984 to 1995, and in the 1980s, he was Calif. Chairman of the Nuclear Freeze Campaign.
Brooks was predeceased by his first wife, Peggy Kirby; his daughter, Kirby (Paul Danielsen); and his grandson, Ben. He is survived by his loving wife of 39 years, Danielle; and his children, Brooks III (Summer Walker), Leslie (Bob Coey); and his brother, Sandy Walker (Kay Walker). Brooks had seven grandchildren, Myles (Reid Wells) and Clay Danielsen (Erica Keller), Ben and Charley Burlock (Buzz Burlock) and Brooks "BT", Della and Susie Walker. He had one great-grandchild, Ella Kirby Danielsen. Brooks also had a close-knit extended family that includes first cousins, Hendy Henderson, Ann Hatch and their descendants. Brooks was an avid skier, tennis and squash player, golfer and fly fisherman. He was a member of many clubs, including the Burlingame Country Club, the California Tennis Club, The San Francisco Golf Club, The Buckeye, The Pacific Union Club, the Bohemian Club, and the Cypress Point Club.
A Celebration of Life will be held for immediate family only. Memorial donations can be made to a charity of your choice.