Kay Noreen Brooks (née Campbell)

We mourn the loss and celebrate the life of Kay Noreen Brooks (née Campbell) who died peacefully on Tuesday, September 1, 2026, at Margaret Bahen Hospice in Newmarket, Ontario. Kay was born September 15,1940 to Archibald and Minnie Campbell (née Bottomley) in Kinghorn, Ontario.

Throughout her life, Kay valued and imparted to her family a high and noble work ethic. She worked a variety of jobs ranging from driving her dad’s tractor on the farm as a child; to waitressing as a teen; to administrative work at the Department of Transportation in her twenties; and to volunteering as a driver for the Catholic Children's Aid Society. In midlife, Kay attended night school in college to attain a degree in Human Resources Professions in 1996. She worked her way up to become Human Resources Manager and Executive Assistant to the Vice-President and President of adidas Canada, where she remained until her retirement—after twenty-five years of long, often ten-hour days.

Kay’s passions included gardening, playing hockey and baseball, the Leafs, the daily Toronto Star, and to the horror of her neighbours, adopting every cat that arrived in her King City backyard. She loved animals, flowers, and the natural green environs of King Township. Above all else, Kay valued kindness, local community engagement, and compassion for those in need. Her potato salad was world class.

She is survived by her husband of sixty-four years, John (Jack) Arthur Brooks, her son, John David Brooks, her daughter, Noreen Ann Robbins, and her granddaughter, Madeline Brooks Robbins. She will also be missed by her daughter-in-law, Sandra Gayle Alves and her son-in-law, David Andrew Robbins.

A Celebration of Life will be held at The Meadows of Aurora in the Muskoka Room on Saturday, October 10, 2026, at 2pm. Park Tower, 460 William Graham Drive, L4G 1X5.

The family requests donations be made in memory of Kay to Margaret Bahen Hospice in lieu of flowers or gifts. Donations: https://www.myhospice.ca/support-my-hospice/