- Date Of Birth: October 1, 1954
- Date Of Death: June 9, 2022
- State: Idaho
On June 09, 2022, Lois Faye (Acree) Brooks, loving wife and mother of three, passed away at 67 years of age from Dementia/Alzheimer’s after being diagnosed with the disease in January 2017. Lois remained at home and was cared for by her family until her death. Lois died at home surrounded by her husband of 50 years and two of her children that still live in Nampa.
Lois was born October 01, 1954, to Ernest M. and Vivian R. Acree at Mercy Hospital in Nampa and was the second of two children. She lived in town during her early years with her parents on Chestnut Street until her parents built a home on Sunny Ridge Road. Growing up in the country, Lois and her brother would spend their time doing chores and exploring the countryside.
Lois started school at Eastside Elementary school. After the family moved to the country, she was to complete her elementary schooling at the Old Sunny Ridge Elementary School, located at the corner of Sunny Ridge Road and Ruth Lane. This is where she met her long-time friend Sandy Sparks (Ward). After grade school, Lois attended Central Junior High and Nampa Senior High, graduating in 1972. Lifetime Sports was Lois’s favorite class in high school, where she exhibited natural athleticism and played on the Field Hockey team. During her final year of high school, Lois met and fell in love with Jimmy Brooks. She was heard to say I am going to marry him, which she did in August 1972.
To this union, three children were born. Two sons, Brent J. Brooks of Gainesville, Texas, Jonathan P. Brooks, and daughter Kennafer C. Brooks, both of Nampa.
Before Jim and Lois started their family, Lois worked as a seamstress for Jackson’s Draperies, and later as a clerk for Canyon Teacher’s Credit Union until the birth of her first son. A couple of short years later, Jim and Lois were blessed with the arrival of their second son Jonathan.
When the two boys started school, Lois went to work and was self-employed, cleaning new homes for builders before the owners moved in. This afforded her the ability to be home when the boys were out of school. When Lois found out she was expecting another child, a daughter, she quit cleaning houses and devoted her time to rearing her three children. Being an accomplished seamstress, Lois plied her sewing abilities and talent by making many clothes for herself and her family, and items for her home. Lois took great pride in being a stay-at-home mom and providing a home for her family. Lois was very deft at managing a budget and accounting for every penny spent or saved. She believed in the axiom make do or do without.
Lois eventually turned her talents to woodworking and other crafts and taught herself to use power tools. The items she created would then be finished by sanding and hand painting them down to the tiniest details. To display her handiwork, Lois turned her newfound skills to making shelves to set them on for all to see. When not doing wood crafts, Lois would start to work on a new counted-cross stitch project, and on completion, she would mat and frame it to hang on the walls of her home.
Being an avid reader, she thoroughly enjoyed reading James Herriott novels, or something by Gary Paulson, as well as Sue Grafton’s series, The Alphabet Murders. When she wanted to read something a bit more humorous, she was known to pick a short story by Patrick McManus.
Lois is survived by her husband, Jimmy Brooks, Nampa; her son, Brent (Alison) Brooks and their three children, Mia Curtis, Kieran Curtis, and Hadley Brooks, all of Gainesville, Texas; her son, Jonathan Brooks and her daughter, Kennafer Brooks, both of Nampa; her brother, Ronald Acree, four nieces, her special aunt and uncle, Shirley and Don Gibbons, Caldwell, and her good neighbor and friend Pam Orwig, Nampa.
Lois was preceded in death by her parents, numerous aunts, uncles, and cousins.
The family would like to thank Dr. Sarah Porter and all the medical staff at St. Luke’s for their compassionate care and understanding.
