Eleanor Brooks

Born in New York, Ellie was the oldest of Sol & Frieda Yellin’s 3 children. When she was young, they moved to Phoenix, AZ, where Ellie eventually joined B’nai B’rith, a Jewish women’s service organization, which is how she met Sid Brooks, the love of her life. They married in December 1959, and Steve was born the following September. In February 1963, Rochelle was born, & their family was complete.

In July 1968, due to a job transfer for Sid, the family moved to Woodland Hills, CA. Ellie got a job as a cashier for an Insurance Agent & soon started working her way up the ladder & busting glass ceilings. In 1974, after a very long & arduous series of tests, Ellie earned her Chartered Life Underwriter designation, or CLU. At that time, fewer than 1% of all CLU’s were women!

Ellie worked in the Life Insurance industry for most of her career, taking a break in the 80’s to follow her dream. She had always loved flowers & had a great knack for arranging them, & in October 1984, she & Sid opened Warner Center Flowers & Gifts. It weas a passion project, working long hours, but it couldn’t survive the recession, so they sold the business in 1991 & Ellie went back to the life insurance game.

Always extremely interested in news and politics, Ellie & Sid read 2 newspapers & followed every news program available. (Steve & Shel grew up watching The Today Show, Meet the Press, & 60 Minutes.) A firm believer in taking action, Ellie volunteered for the DNC for both Hillary Clinton’s & Barack Obama’s Presidential election campaigns, & she chaired a committee to stop fracking in her neighborhood. Even near the end of her life, Ellie was extremely concerned about the rules regarding seniors & their housing & she’d research legislation & regulations tirelessly, ever fighting for her rights!

Ellie is survived by her son Steve & his wife Renee, daughter Rochelle & her husband Jim, grandchildren Dru, Kylie, Matt (Amanda), Lexie (Alex), & Brooke (Grant), & great-grandchildren Mattingly, Judah, Aidan, Camdyn, & Sascha, as well as loving nieces, great-niece and nephew, & many cousins.