BROOKS, Wendell Gene  

Graveside services for Wendell Gene Brooks, 76, will be at 2 p.m., Wednesday, at Memory Lane Cemetery, Anadarko, Okla., with her cousin, Donald Francen, officiating.

Mrs. Brooks was born March 22, 1928 In Cement, Okla., and died Sunday at the United Regional Hospital in Wichita Falls, following a sudden illness. She grew up in Anadarko, and graduated from Anadarko High School.

She received her bachelors degree from Oklahoma College for Women at Chickasha, and her masters degree in business from Oklahoma University, Norman. She went to work in Civil Service, first for the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Anadarko, and then was an instructor, teaching pilots to use computers, at Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita Falls, where she has lived since 1973.

She retired in 1982. She bought and sold antiques for many years. She loved gardening, bird-watching, and reading. She also enjoyed e-mailing her friends.

She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, Raymond Brooks in 1968, and one nephew, Francis Merkt. Survivors include her daughter, Jessamyn Ridpath Stidham of Lake Dallas, Texas two granddaughters, Stephanie Payne and husband Steve, and Krystal Hays four great-grandchildren, Laura and Noah Payne, and Cody and Bailey Hays, all of Lake Dallas one sister, Kathryn Merkt and husband Frank of Columbia, S.C. one nephew, Carl ""Butch"" Merkt of Clarksville, Tenn. also by her good neighbors, loving life-long friends, and fellow AHS graduates.

The family will be at Steverson Funeral Home to greet friends and relatives from 7 to 8:30 p.m., Tuesday evening. Condolences may be sent to the family in care of Steverson Funeral Home, 1115 S. Mission, Anadarko, Okla., 73005, or via e-mail to stevenfh@netride.net.