Emma Brooks

Emma Rose Brooks, 96, previously of Maple Shade, passed away peacefully on October 3rd surrounded by family. She was born in Philadelphia, moved to Maple Shade as a teenager and graduated from Moorestown High School with the Class of 1948

After graduating high school, she worked for Bell Telephone in Merchantville where she became a supervisor and later worked as a switchboard operator for Strawbridge & Clothier and Taj mahal casino. She finished her career as secretary for the Maple Shade Board of Education.

Emma was an accomplished equestrian who owned three horses and rode English. A talented artist and crafter, she was known for her oil paintings, drawings of Eagles players and for her tole painting, and she and her husband sold their crafts together at the Maple Shade sidewalk sale. She wrote a book about the Maple Shade Little Red Schoolhouse and was a member of the Eastern Star and the Maple Shade Historical Society. She never missed MASH, Bonanza, Wheel of Fortune or Jeopardy!

Emma was predeceased by her husband of 55 years, Benjamin Franklin Brooks Sr., whom she met when he was her bus driver for her commute to work. She is survived by her daughter, Margaret Brooks; her son, Frank Brooks Jr.; and her sister, Nancy Wahl.

Come celebrate ninety-six great years Friday, October 16, at Mark C. Tilghman Funeral Home, 38 North Forklanding Road, Maple Shade NJ 08052, where friends may gather from 11 a.m. until the service at 12 noon. Interment Colestown Cemetery, Cherry Hill.

In lieu of flowers, please donate in Memory of Emma Brooks to:

Temple Lutheran Church

5600 North Route 130

Pennsauken, NJ 08109

or

Vitality Hospice

218 West Broad Street - Suite 2

Burlington, NJ 08016