Obituary of Mary Gilman Curtis Brooks

Mary Gilman Curtis Brooks, a resident of Pomfret, Connecticut for the past seventeen years, died at Day-Kimball Hospital in Putnam on the fourth of June, from complications from pneumonia. Born in New York City in 1922, Gil spent many of her years in Bronxville, New York after her parents moved to that suburb. She attended the Bronxville School from kindergarten through the ninth grade, and graduated from the Emma Willard School in Troy, New York in 1940. She received her bachelor's degree in early childhood education from New York University's Froebel League in 1945 and subsequently taught nursery school at the School of Ethical Culture in New York City and then at the nursery school of Christ Episcopal Church in Bronxville. Her marriage in 1949 to John Reynolds Brooks of the United States Consular Service took her to Germany and Italy where diplomatic duties, vacation travels to several other countries, and the birth of her daughter made for a busy life. Upon her return to Bronxville after the years abroad, Gil worked as a devoted parish volunteer in a number of Christ Church programs, where her interests and talents in hospitality and cooking found outlets in the Parish Life committee, and as a dedicated Choir Mother to countless choristers involved in the church's active music ministry. Her skills in needlepoint were also well known, as evidenced by several finely-wrought altar kneeling cushions. During these years, she provided her daughter with a brother, and later started a private gourmet catering service which for years had many satisfied customers in Bronxville, and New York City. The move to Pomfret in 1997 allowed her more time for her needlework and her gardening and cooking talents, and the pleasures of membership in the local book club; and she continued these activities during the years after she was widowed. Her anchor to her Connecticut life was her church. She is survived by her daughter, Lila Curtis Brooks, her son, John Winthrop Brooks, sisters Anne Curtis Fredericks and Eleanor Curtis van Hoogstraten, cousin Marian Foster Fraser, and several nieces and nephews. A memorial service for Gil will be held on Wednesday, June 18th, at four o'clock in the afternoon, at Christ Episcopal Church, 521 Pomfret Street (Route169), Pomfret. In lieu of flowers donations may be made in her memory to the Christ Church, PO Box 21, Pomfret, CT 06258 or the Christ Church, 17 Sagamore Road, Bronxville, NY 10708. To share a memory with her family, "Light a Candle" at www.smithandwalkerfh.com