Verna Sophia Brooks
Verna Sophia Brooks (nee Pain) died unexpectedly on November 17, 2015 . She was 86.
Verna was born on August 25, 1929 in Kamloops, B.C. to her parents, James and Winnifred Pain. Her father died when she was eight and her mother never remarried. Her family moved to Victoria, B.C. around 1940 and she supported her mother and younger brother.
As a young woman, she worked as Secretary to the Superintendent of Motor Vehicles in Victoria and is one of the few people we know who was skilled at Pitman shorthand.
She met, fell in love with and married Terry Brooks in 1951. Terry was working for the BC Forest Service and Verna followed him up the Coast as his career progressed. They first lived in Victoria, then Pender Harbour and Campbell River, as well as Vancouver where Terry attended the BC Forest Service Green Timbers Ranger school. They also lived in Port Hardy, Ocean Falls, Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte City) and finally Campbell River. Verna worked in most of these locations as an administrative assistant. In her retirement years, she resided in Sooke, Cowichan Bay and finally Ladysmith.
As her children we seldom if ever ate store bought bread and still remember her ordering groceries from Woodward’s to be delivered by coastal freighter the Northland Prince while living on Haida Gwaii. Dr Spock and Adelle Davis were her bibles as we grew up and she believed in healthy eating before it became a fad. She lovingly subjected her children to Tiger’s milk a noxious concoction of orange juice, brewers yeast and other healthy ingredients as well as cod liver oil and vitamin C. We are also sure that we were the only children that went to school with pressed underwear; cleanliness and pressing were next to godliness, followed close behind by honesty and hard work. Her home, husband and children were precious to her. Terry was called to heaven in May of 2013 and Verna was heart broken.
Verna loved life, but mostly loved caring for and being with the family, particularly her two children, Jim and Lynn. She was an exceptional cook, knitter and seamstress, and got great joy over sharing her baked goods. She even won 1st place at a Country Fair for her fudge. She is greatly missed.
Verna is survived by her brother, Dan Pain (Shirley), her son James Brooks (Marie-Odile) of Ottawa, daughter Lynn deVries (Elzo) of Ladsymith, grandsons Nicolas (Lisa) of Ottawa, Thierry (Laura-Ann) of Thunder Bay, and Benoit of Coquitlam, four great grandchildren Morgan, Logan, Alison and Colin. She is preceded in death by her sister, Winnie.
A memorial will take place on January 23rd, 2016
at 1:00 pm at St. Phillips Anglican Church,
1797 Cedar Rd, Nanaimo, BC,
followed by a reception at the Church.
All are welcome to attend and celebrate Verna’s life.