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CRYSTAL FALLS --Thomas G. Brooks Jr. passed away on March 10, 2021.
He was born on April 30, 1920, in Crystal Falls, to the late Bessie and Thomas G. Brooks Sr.
He moved to Stambaugh at the age of two with his parents and graduated from Stambaugh High School in 1938. Immediately after graduation he started two years of apprenticeship in the funeral business with Mr. Fransher at the Stambaugh Funeral Home. In 1940 he attended the Cincinnati College of Embalming in Cincinnati, Ohio and graduated in 1941.
Tom was married to the former Kathryn McLaughlin on July 25, 1943, in Miami. She preceded him in death on April 1, 1999, and they were married for 56 years. He also was preceded in death by his sister, Doris (James) Matthews and niece, Marion Matthews Chubb.
He is survived by a daughter, Paula (Orville) Mullins of Springfield, Tenn.; granddaughter, Melissa (Dr. Matthew) Browning of Springfield, Tenn.; grandson, Tom (Amber) Mullins of Houston; and five great-grandchildren, Alexander, Nicholas and Elizabeth Browning and Brooks and Claire Mullins.
Tom spent 24 years working in the funeral business in Detroit. He owned and operated the Stambaugh Funeral Home from 1949 to 1951 then returned as owner in 1968. He enlarged the business by building a new funeral home in Iron River in 1977 and retired from both operations in 1981.
Tom served in the U. S. Navy during World War II and was stationed at the Naval Hospital in the Philadelphia Ship Yard when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.
He was a former member of the Michigan Funeral Directors Association, The National Funeral Directors Association, Wesley United Methodist Church of Iron River, Reino Post 21, American Legion of Stambaugh, Iron River Country Club and the Progressive Men's Club of Caspian. He was past president of the Kiwanis Club of Iron County, The Iron River Service Club, Life Member of the Crystal Falls-Iron River Masonic Lodge 385, past president and life member of the Multi-Lakes Conservation Club (affiliate of the Michigan National Conservation Clubs) in Walled Lake, Mich. He was a member of the board of directors of the former Commercial Bank of Stambaugh for 10 years.
Visitation for Thomas G. Brooks will take place from 9:30 to 10:45 a.m. on Friday, April 30 at Christ United Methodist Church in Crystal Falls. The Crystal Falls and Iron River Masonic Lodge 385 will conduct their services at 10:45 a.m. with funeral services for Thomas to follow at 11 a.m. at the church. Pastor Vicky Prewitt will officiate, and burial will take place in Evergreen Cemetery. The East Side Veterans will accord military rites at the graveside.
Condolences to the family of Thomas G. Brooks may be expressed online at www.nashfuneralhome.net
The family has entrusted the Nash Funeral Home and Cremation Services of Crystal Falls with arrangements.