Alve "Sally" M. Brooks, beloved wife, mother, and grandmother, departed this mortal life on Saturday, March 30, 2013 at her home surrounded by family. Sally was born at Winona, Minnesota on March 16, 1920 to James Hilbert and Ethel Irene (Thompson) Lee. She graduated from high school in 1938, and later moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota where she met Richard "Dick" S. Brooks in 1944. She and Dick were married in Salina, Kansas on February 12, 1944, and from that union were born three children; Susan in 1954, Gregory in 1956, and Lisa in 1958. Gregory survived only briefly and is interred at Mount Clemens, Michigan. Very soon after their marriage, Dick was sent with the US Army to Europe. During that separation in World War II, Sally returned to her home town of Winona, Minnesota to live and work until she joined Dick in Bad Nauheim, Germany in April of 1946. They returned to America in 1947 and were stationed in Camp Cooke, California where they began the remainder of Dick's Army service which lasted until June of 1973 when he retired after thirty years of continuous active service. With Sally's loving help, Dick served in Europe, Korea during the Conflict, and again during the Cold War period, in Okinawa where their first child was born in 1954, and in stateside locations in California, Virginia, New York, Oklahoma, Michigan, Colorado, Texas, and Alaska.

Following their Army retirement, they moved to Lawton, Oklahoma where Sally owned and operated a women's clothing shop while Dick worked as an administrator and counselor at Cameron University until their second retirement in 1986. In 1989, they moved to Colorado Springs and remained until 1995 when they made their last move to Concordia where they served the Episcopal Church of the Epiphany until 2005 when Dick's third retirement was forced by congestive heart failure.

While serving with her husband in the military for twenty-nine years, Sally was a member of Military Wives Clubs wherever they were stationed. She was also a member of the Business and Professional Women's (BPW) Clubs in Lawton, Oklahoma and Colorado Springs, Colorado. She served as President of the local chapter of BPW for two terms and was voted Woman of the Year in Lawton. Sally was on the National Committee for BPW. She was an ambassador for the Chamber of Commerce in Lawton, Oklahoma and served as President of the Women's Division of the Chamber of Commerce in Concordia, Kansas. Sally was a member in Concordia of the Order of the Eastern Star, the Society of the Beauceant, the Auxiliaries of the VFW and American Legion; and at Clyde, Kansas in Chapter AV of P.E.O. She was an active member of three Bridge groups, and of the Senior Women at the Concordia Lutheran Church.

Sally is survived by her husband, Dick; daughters, Susan and Lisa and their husbands Ken and Tim, all of Dallas, Texas; grandchildren, Shauna, Jenee, Cathy, Melissa, Amanda, Frandy, Wyatt, Ellese, and Karis; several great-grandchildren; niece, Carol Ruud; and nephews, Wayne and Jerry Ruud. She was preceded in death by her parents; infant son, Gregory; and sisters, Florence, Evelyn, and Aurelia.

Memorial services will be held at 10:00 AM, Saturday, April 6, 2013 in the Concordia Lutheran Church in Concordia, Kansas. Interment of her cremated remains will be at Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery at the Army post where Dick began his military career in 1943. At his departure, Dick will be placed alongside Sally as they have been in life for so many years. There will be no viewing but a register book will be available to sign from 9 AM to 5 PM Friday, April 5, 2013 in the Chaput-Buoy Funeral Home in Concordia. Memorials are suggested to the American Cancer Society in care of the funeral home.