Sally (Sparkman) Brooks

Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise Bartlesville, OK

Submitted by: Ann Weber

Sparkman Brooks, beloved wife, mother and grandmother, 78, went home to be with her Lord and Savior on March 15, 2016, after a long illness. She was born on October 12, 1937, to Harvey Monroe Sparkman and Katherine Anderson Sparkman in Ponca City, Oklahoma, but made her home in Tulsa for many years.

One of seven "Sparkman Girls," she graduated from Daniel Webster High School in Tulsa in 1955 and began working for Bethlehem Supply Company as a secretary where she met her future husband, Duard Austin Brooks. They were married on February 16, 1957, and made their home in Tulsa until 1972 when they moved, with their daughters, to Bartlesville. After many years as a legal secretary with Brewer, Worten, Robinett and Johnson, she retired in 2004 as Secretary/Treasurer of Fractionation Research, Inc. A gifted and talented musician, she sang with her sisters, taking the bass line, in a southern gospel quartet and played piano, organ, violin, bass and accordion. She started the church choir and the children's choir programs at Carbondale Assembly of God in Tulsa, where she was the director for many years. She also directed the choir at Tuxedo Assembly of God in Bartlesville. While in Tulsa, she sang with the Tulsa Community Chorus and in 2007, served as the guest conductor for the 2007 Tulsa Starlite Concert Series. Active in her church and in her community, she helped to organize and served as the President of the first Parent Teacher Association at Remington Elementary School in Tulsa, where she started the school breakfast program for the many students who attended without breakfast. Once the family moved to Bartlesville, she served as the leader of Y-Teens, volunteered with Meals on Wheels, served as president of the College High School Band Boosters, served as a "Gillie" at Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa and as a volunteer and member of the board of directors of "On the Rock," a Bartlesville youth program serving Jr. High and High School students after school. In addition to her community involvement, she taught Sunday School for many young couples in both Tulsa and Bartlesville, with whom she and her husband remained close friends.

Her greatest joy in life was playing with her grandsons and watching them succeed. Whether the event was t-ball, high school football, soccer games, choir or band concerts, awards assemblies, camp pick up, plays or musicals and regardless of location, Grandma Sally was in the audience watching and cheering them on.

She enjoyed traveling, both for pleasure and as a part of missions opportunities, visiting all 50 states and several foreign countries including Italy, Turkey, the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Germany, Russia, Israel, Costa Rica, Mexico, Canada and the Caribbean. She loved to tell people about Jesus and enjoyed sharing that love as she traveled.

She is survived by her husband of 59 years, Duard Brooks of Bartlesville; daughter Dana Brooks Bourland and her husband Jeff of Wichita, KS and their children Brooks Bourland (and his wife, Jennifer) of Fairfax, VA, Connor Bourland (and his wife, Bethany) of Norman, OK, and Colin Bourland of Tuscaloosa, AL; and daughter Kristi Brooks and Michael Morris of Tulsa, OK, and her children, Austin Reid of Norman, OK, and Braden Reid of Tulsa, OK. Her sisters, Janet Lay of Grove, OK, Mary McAlister of Afton, OK, and Linda Evans of Sapulpa, OK, two great-grandchildren, Ian and Maddie Clendenning, and countless nieces and nephews and their families also survive her. She was preceded in death by her parents and her sisters, Loretta Moore, Marie Arland and Martha Gardner. Come and go visitation will be held on Saturday and Sunday, from 1:00-8:00 PM in the Arnold Moore & Neekamp Funeral Home, 710 S. Dewey Ave. Family will be present to greet friends on Sunday from 4:00-6:00 PM.

Services will be held on Monday at 1:00 PM in the Carbondale Assembly of God, Tulsa, Oklahoma. Interment will follow the service in Green Hill Cemetery, Sapulpa, Oklahoma.

Arrangements are under the direction of the Arnold Moore & Neekamp Funeral Home. Online condolences may be left at www.honoringmemories.com.

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