Isaiah Brooks

Early Life. Isaiah Brooks, born January 27, 1935, in DeBerry, Texas, passed away September 9, 2024, in Dallas, Texas. He and his twin brother Isaac are the youngest sons of James (Jim) Brooks and Annie Singleton Brooks.

Isaiah and his brother who were delivered by a local physician were originally named Bob and Bert. Who was Bob and who was Bert remains a mystery. Their father James gave those names to the physician but changed his mind afterwards and recorded the new names Isaac and Isaiah in the family Bible. Isaiah who was one of ten siblings and who was also the younger twin spent the first nine years of his life on what was called the Hudson Place. In 1944 the family moved to the Crossroads Community where Isaiah, Isaac, and older sister Evelyn helped their father cultivate the family farm.

Community Life. Isaiah’s family were members of Crossroads Church. Many of the family’s descendants maintain strong ties to the church. His parents and most of his siblings are buried in the church cemetery. Isaiah and Isaac were baptized at 12 during a summer revival for Crossroads Church. Isaiah often spoke of his tremendous respect for the Reverend J.J. Jones, the pastor. Isaiah had a strong sense of right and wrong and enjoyed having older ladies in the community tell his mother what a nice person he was. That sense of right and wrong also meant that he was one to be reckoned with and that meant standing up for himself and Isaac and vice versa.

Isaiah attended what was called “pre-primer” and elementary school at Crossroads Church and afterwards went on to A. L. Turner High School in Carthage. (He later attended Booker T. Washington High School in Dallas.)

Isaiah was a superior athlete. He often said he and his twin brother Isaac were unique in the sense that they grew up having a ready-made competitor. They were each other’s equal in size, stature, and athleticism which made them formidable foes for opposing teams. They excelled in football and basketball at school. They played right/left end on the football team. Isaiah was a guard on the basketball team because of his ability to run. Isaac played forward because he couldn’t run because of a previous leg injury. Isaiah was a first baseman for the baseball team at the community center.

Married Life. Isaiah and Jimmie Mae Gipson were married in 1957. Their romance had a fairytale quality. “When Jimmie was thirteen, she thought I would like to marry someone like him someday. On June 19, 1954, when he was nineteen, he said I am going to marry that girl someday. Two-and-a-half years later, he did, five days before Valentine’s Day.” To their union, five children were born: Cathy Linda, Gerry Joe, Delphine Lucretia, Carol Yvette, and Stacey Raynard.

The family made their home in Dallas, Texas. Isaiah was able to take his love of sports to recreational baseball and basketball competitions at Exline Park in the first decade of their marriage. Additionally, he and wife Jimmie competed in two-on-two basketball games with friends and their spouses. Isaiah said Jimmie was an average basketball player, but she didn’t like hot weather. The two of them together were unbeatable. They had some competition because Eunice Johnson one of the opposing spouses and the wife of Charlie Ray Johnson had been a star athlete

in high school. Isaiah took his childhood love of constructing things and made construction his life’s work. He retired as a construction foreman at Concho Construction Company with his children not realizing what a trailblazing role that was until they were well past middle age. He and friend Charlie Ray had a fence installation and patio construction business that Isaiah had planned to turn into a full-time profession after retirement. Always the builder, Isaiah converted the family’s garage into a dining room and den and erected a backyard patio. Later, when he and wife Jimmie decided to enlarge the house, the contractor asked Isaiah to get involved in the project after learning that Isaiah was an experienced builder.

He was a father who cooked when his wife worked and often made Saturday breakfasts and prepared home-made “sugar syrup” that made his boy scout troop the hit of one Boy Scouts’ Jamboree. He made his trademark Sunday dinners of fried chicken or pork chops, sugary candied yams, and a green or yellow vegetable. He was a mere mortal. Everything but the meat came out of a can. He barbecued. He cleaned. He was a disciplinarian but was never harsh.

Volunteer Life. Isaiah was a boy scout leader for the J.N. Ervin Troop, little league coach for the ten and under and twelve and under baseball and basketball teams for the Highland Hills Panthers. He was an assistant coach for the football teams. He was a deacon at Mt. Rose Missionary Baptist Church. He, his wife, and sister-in-law Yvonne Armstrong joined Mt. Rose in 1962. Later, he was a charter member and trustee at Triumph Missionary Baptist Church. He served as deacon, chairman and chairman emeritus of the deacon board.

Later Life. Isaiah entered retirement unexpectantly after an on-the-job accident brought his career to a halt. He always loved outdoor activities, so after a lengthy hospitalization and rehabilitation he resumed his outdoor projects at home. During this phase of his life he became an expert at cooking in crockpots avoiding traditional cookware as much as possible. He often gave crockpot tutorials to friends and family. He maintained a love for sports and was forever a coach at heart.

Isaiah was preceded in death by his beautiful wife Jimmie; his daughter Ruth Ella Bailey; sons Gerry Joe and Stacey Raynard; parents James and Annie Brooks; sisters Jessie Lee Brooks, Emma Lee Roberson, Evelyn McCray, Betty Ann Brooks; brothers Calvin Ross (Bear) and James (Son) Brooks; Family members left to cherish his memory include daughters Cathy Brooks, Delphine Baldon, Carol Yvette Jackson; brother Isaac Brooks and sister Alice Pearl Fite; sister-in-law Artha Ree Brooks; grandsons Jimmy, Brian (Shakemia), and Dominic Bailey, and Gary Joseph Richard; granddaughters Jennifer Padgett (Samuel), Stacey Michelle Allen (Chase), Angela Campbell (Kelley); great-grandsons Dylan Bailey, Hampton Bailey, Jeremiah Padgett, Brayden and Sean Campbell, Chase and John Allen; great-granddaughters Christine Bailey, Angelique Padgett, Jayla Sanders, Zora Mae Allen; and a host of other relatives.

Eternal Life. Isaiah Brooks was loved, admired, and respected. More importantly, he was cherished by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Isaiah’s re-birth decades ago allows him to reside in his new heavenly home.