April 2021

It is my sad duty to report that Steve Brooks — aka “Twig” due to his slender frame — died this past April after a 20-year struggle with COPD. Steve carved out a career at Hollingsworth & Vose, a global manufacturer of materials used in filtration, energy and industrial applications. After retiring as purchasing manager, he moved to a family home in York Harbor, Maine, a favored vacation site.

Steve and I became constant companions during our misspent youth. He grew up on Longwood Road just south of Gilman, where Frank Brooks, Bill Beehler, Jan Finney, and Crane Houston lived a stone’s throw away. Paul Beadle was his fraternity roommate at Union College in Schenectady, New York.

He savored good repartee, enjoyed fishing aboard his boat Aliceanna and “played golf badly, like me,” said brother Andrew. An avid reader, Steve would put down the book he was reading, move to another room in his house, and pick up another book he’d started on. Survivors include son Stephen Bonsal Brooks IV, daughter Lily, four siblings and a large extended family. His marriage to Irene P. Moore ended in divorce.

reported by Key Kidder '67