Services
Obituary
Charles “Roger” Brooks, 84, of Clarion passed away on Wednesday, June 4, 2025 at Kanawha Community Home.
Memorial services will be held at 11:00 AM on Wednesday, June 11, 2025, at Clarion First Methodist Church, 201 3rd Avenue Northeast in Clarion, with Pastor Craig Luttrell officiating. Burial will be in Buena Vista Memorial Park Cemetery in Storm Lake.
Visitation will be held from 5:00 - 7:00 PM on Tuesday, June 10, 2025, at Ewing Funeral Home, 1801 Central Avenue East in Clarion.
Charles “Roger” Brooks was born June 27, 1940 in Webster City, Iowa, to Randall Brooks and Mildred (Fuller) Brooks.
Roger graduated from Webster City High School in 1958 and earned his AA degree from Webster City Junior College in 1960, where he played basketball and baseball. He then graduated from Morningside College in 1963. He took graduate hours at the University of Wyoming. It was at Morningside that Rog met Kay, and they were married in 1964,
Roger grew up about a half block from the railroad tracks and spent many hours riding on locomotives as they switched. This was the start of his love for railroads, and his lifelong hobby of model railroading. He started listening to the Chicago Cubs on the radio in 1949 and he never stopped loving the Cubs. His other longtime passion of playing golf started when he was in college and continued for 60 years. He had a vegetable garden for many years and enjoyed sharing his produce with friends and neighbors.
Roger taught at West Sioux Community School in Hawarden, Iowa, for two years before moving to a teaching position at Clarion in 1966. He retired from the Clarion school in 2002. He taught US History, government, and other social studies classes. He also coached football, boys' basketball, softball, and was head girls' golf coach for 27 years and head baseball coach for 8 years. He scouted for the football team for 20 years and who knows how many ankles he taped in those years. As a post-retirement job, he delivered for Fancy That Catering for 13 years.
He built a model railroad layout in his basement and loved to construct buildings for his own layout as well as for fellow modelers. He has many scratch-built buildings on other layouts throughout the Midwest.
Roger was most fortunate to be able to visit 3 places on his “bucket list.” They were the Great Wall of China, St. Andrews Golf Course in Scotland, and the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.
Roger was an active member of the Lions Club, Clarmond Country Club, and the Clarion Methodist Church, where he served as Sunday school secretary and chairman of the administrative board for many years.
Roger is survived by his wife Kay of 60 years, his daughter Amy (Michael) Tetzlaff of Austin, Texas, his son Brian (Stephanie) Brooks of Brentwood, California, his two granddaughters Laurel Brooks and Colbi Brooks of Brentwood California, and his step-granddaughter Megan Tetzlaff (Charles) Nell of Lubbock, Texas. A young man who became part of his family John (Kris) Scheppler of Ames also survives.