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Jeannette Brooks

Feb 18, 2018

Jeannette Brooks died February 11, 2018 at Community Hospice House in Merrimack, NH. A week before her death, she experienced the joy of having her three children, four granddaughters, and six great-grandchildren visiting all together in her home. When expressing what they appreciated most about Jeannette, friends and acquaintances alike comment upon her caring gestures for others, her sense of humor, and her straightforward, tell-it-like-it-is wisdom.

The daughter of Jewish immigrant parents, Israel and Celia Levine, Jeannette was born in 1925 in Brockton, MA and spent some of her childhood summers with her aunt in Nashua, NH. Her teens and early 20s were spent in Elizabeth, NJ where she married Nathaniel Brooks in 1947. A few years later, they moved to Detroit where they raised their children. Jeannette graduated from Newark State Teacher’s College and Wayne State University and spent much of her career as an elementary school reading specialist. After retirement in 1986, she and Nathaniel moved to the Nashua area to be close to family.

Jeannette was a woman of strong convictions about making the world a better place. From her youth onward, she worked for civil rights, peace, and social justice. One example of her work came when she was pregnant in 1951 and obstetric practices in Detroit were still segregated. Along with other pregnant women, she organized an initiative to integrate the practice. She continued to be active in these movements throughout her life, and into her 90s, she was an organizer and activist for the causes and candidates she supported.

Jeannette was preceded in death by her husband of 68 years, Nathaniel, and brother Manny. She is survived by children Daniel (Barbara), Rachel (Steve), and Emily (Charles); grandchildren Angela, Katie, Sarah, and Anna; and great-grandchildren Sienna and Alexis, Lucca and Jude, and Alex and Zachary.

We will have a celebration of her life in the spring.

Donations in Jeannette’s memory may be made to the “Southern Poverty Law Center” or “The Huntington at Nashua Employee Appreciation Fund.”