SEARCH SITE

VIRGINIA LAW PORTAL

SEARCHABLE DATABASES

ACROSS SESSIONS

Developed and maintained by the Division of Legislative Automated Systems.

2007 SESSION


HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 932
Celebrating the life of George Mercer Brooke, Jr.

 

Agreed to by the House of Delegates, February 20, 2007
Agreed to by the Senate, February 22, 2007

 

WHEREAS, George Mercer Brooke, Jr., author, professor emeritus of history at the Virginia Military Institute, and a respected community leader, died on June 16, 2006; and

WHEREAS, George Brooke was born in Tokyo, Japan, on October 21, 1914, to George Mercer Brooke and Isabel Tilton Brooke and moved with his family to Lexington, Virginia, following his father’s retirement from the United States Army; and

WHEREAS, George Brooke achieved the rank of Eagle Scout, one of the first Lexington residents to earn this prestigious title, beginning a long involvement with the Boys Scouts of America; and

WHEREAS, George Brooke graduated from Lexington High School and entered the Virginia Military Institute (VMI), earning a bachelor's degree in 1936, and valuing education, he went on to receive a master of arts degree in history from Washington and Lee University in 1942 and completed a doctoral degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1955; and

WHEREAS, George Brooke continued to reside in Lexington upon his appointment as a professor of history at the Virginia Military Institute in 1943; and

WHEREAS, George Brooke served his country during World War II, and upon completion of his military service, resumed his teaching career at VMI and taught there until his retirement in 1980; an accomplished writer, he also published four books; and

WHEREAS, a loyal supporter of his alma mater, George Brooke served as chairman of the VMI sesquicentennial committee; and

WHEREAS, George Brooke married Frances Brooke, and they celebrated 64 years together as a loving and devoted couple and raised a son, George Mercer Brooke III, and a daughter, Marion Brooke Philpott, and have five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren; and

WHEREAS, in 1989 George Brooke, long a supporter of the Boy Scouts of America, was recognized with the Silver Beaver Award and as the Outstanding Scout Leader in the Southern District; and

WHEREAS, George Brooke actively served his community in numerous organizations, including the American Cancer Society, the Rockbridge Historical Society, the Ruth McCullough Chapter of the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, and the Lexington Branch of the English-Speaking Union; and

WHEREAS, George Brooke was a founding member and president of the Rockbridge Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution and a longtime member of the Society of the Cincinnati, the Mayflower Society, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby note with great sadness the passing of an admired citizen and outstanding Virginian, George Mercer Brooke, Jr.; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the family of George Mercer Brooke, Jr., as an expression of the General Assembly’s respect for his lifetime of achievement.