Robert Dean Brooks

Robert Dean Brooks, 89, of Brevard, North Carolina, passed away peacefully in his home on March 25, surrounded by his loving daughters. He was born in 1934 to Arthur Lee Brooks, Sr. and Bessie Hill Brooks. Bob spent his childhood in St. Louis, graduated from Siegel Grammar School in 1949 and attended McKinley High School for a year before deciding to leave formal education and seek adventure in the golden state of California. Encouraged by a mentor to resume his studies, he returned to St. Louis in 1955 with the winnings from a trip to Las Vegas and enrolled at Washington University. After receiving his Bachelor of Arts from Wash U, Bob continued his studies at Cornell University where he attained a Master of Arts and a Doctor of Philosophy. In 1964, after a year as an associate professor at San Diego State University, he joined the faculty at the University of Illinois as a professor of communication. In subsequent years, Bob served on the faculty of the University of Wisconsin and Northwestern University. In 1974, he was appointed chairman of the department of communication at the University of South Florida. During that time, he also established Brooks Communications, a consulting practice to improve the effectiveness of communication in organizations. His clients included Westinghouse, TECO, and Alcoa. In 1980-81, Bob was recipient of a Fulbright-Hays Commission Senior Research Fellowship for the study of German corporate communications. During that year, he served as a visiting professor at the Universität zu Köln and conducted research at leading German manufacturers including Braun and Siemens. In 1981, he became founder and director of Webster University’s expansion of its international campuses to Geneva and Leiden. During this time Bob also made several humanitarian visits to South Africa, identifying talented and underserved students for scholarship opportunities at American universities. Dr. Brooks continued his leadership of the European campuses of American universities in Heidelberg and Florence before returning to Tampa, Florida in 1994. He left retirement in 2002 to serve as editor and researcher for the IPCC in Jerusalem, producing four books in the IPCC’s Strategic Studies series on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Bob was preceded in death by his wife Kathleen Swann Brooks and is survived by his children, Andrea Brooks-Kinder, Heather Gaddis (Nicholas), Alexis Borucke (David), Robert Brooks (Triza) and Sarah Ward (Stephen); his grandchildren, Claudia Jewell (Sean), Samantha Brooks-Kinder (Michael Reynolds), George Brooks, Michael Brooks-Kinder, Madalaine Brooks-Kinder; MargoAnne Tapley and Sarah Regan Borucke; Sabrina, Luke, Dominic and Sebastian Brooks; Campbell Grace, Brooks and Stephen Watkins Ward; and four great-grandchildren, Beverly Brooks, Allison Torres, and Brooks and Bennett Jewell.

Bob believed in the life-long pursuit of learning and inspired his children and grandchildren to seek education both inside and outside the classroom. He was active in the Society of Friends in Brevard and in St. Petersburg Florida. A life-long Cardinal fan, he was proud to have been named for the winning Dean brothers who carried the Cardinals to a World Series victory the year of his birth.

SERVICES: A memorial service will be held at 1:00 p.m on May 25, 2024 at Ambruster Chapel on Clayton Road and the family will receive guests until 4:00 p.m.