John (Joan), Phyllis (Steve) and family -
I received word of your mother's passing yesterday and I'm sad to know she is gone, but at the same time I have such strong memories of both her and your father. She lived a beautiful and full life impacting so many people in such a positive way. My wife and I continue to order from the restaurant and have bottles of the famous Brooks sauces sent to us. Whenever we have the sauce I think of Mr. and Mrs. B. along with Lester and the old crew at Brooks House of BBQ.
I want you to know how much both of your parents influenced me personally. In the late 1970s and stretching into the mid 1980s I worked along side them as a very impressionable young man who was just trying to earn a few extra dollars for spending money. What life lessons I learned from them and I will always be grateful. Both were terrific role models and layed a foundation for me to build my life and career upon. They taught me about hard work, getting rewards for making the extra effort, staying focused and always taking care of the customer. Throughout high school and during my college summers I worked for Brooks House of BBQ and loved every moment. I have extremely vivid memories all these years later of Mrs. B working the front service line with me at the Morris and Cobleskill Fairs. Mrs. B was in charge of the register and I worked putting the trays together for chicken dinners and interacting with customers. We were a great team and moved people through efficiently and fast with utmost care.
We would travel in the famour Brooks House of BBQ Winnebago to events and I would sit with them in the front as we headed out very early in the morning to reach destinations around Central Upstate NY. Mrs. B never tolerated laziness or lack of focus, but always demanded the best from me with a smile and in a motherly nuturing manner. I have other memories of working the fairs on very hot August and September days, cooking hundreds and hundreds of chickens over the pits. I would run the foil pans of chicken from Mr. B to the front line under the tent and serve up long lines of customers. She taught me how to make cole slaw and place the dinner items strategically on the plates. `When the evening rush would finally come to an end and everything was cleaned up, only then did the team celebrate with a cold G & T - only one though. We would all sit together reflecting on the day and be in awe of the total number of customers we served.
I love the photo of Mrs. B and it makes me smile right back at her. Please accept my deepest condolances and loving remembrances of a grand lady. My thoughts and prayers are with you all this weekend and I know it will be hard to say a final "good-bye", but what a time she must be having with Mr. B in Heaven. My guess is they might just be working and serving up a half of BBQ chicken, baked potato, cole slaw, roll, butter and side of cranberry!
Jim Harris
