Obituary for Conley Brooks | David Lee Funeral Home & Cremation Services

• Date Of Birth: September 16, 1921
• Date Of Death: December 16, 2013
• State: Michigan

Brooks, Conley age 92, passed away of natural causes at his home on Dec- ember 16, 2013. His death was peaceful, quick, and attended by close family members, a number of whom were coincidentally in town from faraway places. The eldest son of Edward and Markell Brooks, Con was born in St. Paul and attended St. Paul Academy through high school. He grew up at the family home, Eastcliff, which since 1960 has been the residence of the Presidents of the University of Minnesota. He matriculated at Yale University in 1940 as a member of the Class of 1944, but World War II intervened, and he left college in 1942 to join the Army Air Force. After flight training and for the remainder of the war, Con was a flight instructor in C47 and B25 airplanes. In March of 1944, he married Marney Brown of St. Paul, a wonderful marriage that would produce five children and last almost 68 years until Marney’s death in 2012. In 1946, Con joined the family business, Brooks Scanlon, Inc., a lumber manufacturing company founded in Minnesota in 1900, with operations in the South and the Pacific Northwest. Thus began a career of over 60 years with Brooks Scanlon and its successor companies, for which he served variously as Director, CEO, and longtime Chairman. Though Brooks Scanlon itself was sold in 1980, Con continued to work in related Brooks family enterprises including Brooks Resources Corporation, a real estate developer in Bend, Oregon, and Sawmill Private Management, Inc., a multi-family office in Minneapolis. One of his highest ideals and proudest accomplishments was keeping the extended Brooks family together as engaged owners. He never formally retired, and regularly came to his office every day until slowed by a stroke at age 89. Even then he maintained an active interest in business and in world events. Three days before his death, he attended and participated in a foundation board meeting in downtown Minneapolis. Having been raised to feel an obligation to give back to his country and to society, Con shared his talents with other businesses and community organizations. He was a longtime board member of the First National Bank of Minneapolis (now US Bank), Northwestern National Life Insurance Company, and several other local companies. In the non-profit world, he served for many years on the board of Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, and was named a Life Trustee. He was a trustee and Chairman of the Minneapolis Foundation, and was also a longtime trustee of Abbott Northwestern Hospital and its affiliated organizations, including the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation and Allina. He was very proud of having helped to bring together the boards of Abbott Hospital and Northwestern Hospital to create the merged Abbott Northwestern in 1970. Similarly, he was one of the key board members who created and implemented the merger of Blake School and Northrop School in 1974. He maintained his close ties with Yale University and, having done additional course work, ultimately earned a BA degree from Yale in 1966, twenty-two years after what would have been his original graduation year. Con was a very sociable person, and had a very wide circle of friends from all walks of life. He had lifelong friends from high school and college days, but was always interested in meeting new people. He belonged to a number of organizations where this could occur, such as the Skylight Club and the Fox and Hounds Breakfast Club. An inveterate traveler, he and Marney made many trips with many people, pictures of which are preserved in dozens of slide trays. In addition to a very longstanding interest in photography, Con enjoyed cars, sailboats, shotguns, skiing, hiking (always with one of numerous walking sticks he collected), and all things mechanical. His automobiles were always carefully selected after much tire kicking, and often contradicted his otherwise conservative image. Family was of utmost importance to Con.

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