Joyce Brooks

Joyce Carolyn Kocurek Brooks

Funeral services will be held for Joyce Carolyn Kocurek Brooks at 10 a.m., Monday, May 7, 2018 at the Snook Brethren Church of Snook, Texas. Graveside services will follow at 2 p.m. in Richmond, Texas, at the Morton Cemetery. Visitation will be from 4-8 p.m., Sunday, May 6, 2018 at Strickland Funeral Home, Caldwell, Texas. Mrs. Brooks passed from this world May 3, 2018 in Bryan, Texas.

Joyce was born on December 16, 1944 to Bill and Della Naivar Kocurek at Rosenberg Hospital, Rosenberg, Texas, the first of the six children to be born in a hospital.

Joyce attended Rosenberg Brethren Church and was baptized, confirmed and married in her home church. She married her husband of 52 years, Jon Frederick Brooks in the summer of 1965, on the 17th of July.

After graduating Lamar High School Joyce attended the University of Texas at Austin, graduating with a BS in Home Economics. She completed a Residency to be a Registered Dietitian in Birmingham, Alabama. Following this she and Jon moved back to their home state of Texas where she began work in her chosen field. Joyce became a corporate executive overseeing hospitals and nursing homes and their kitchens in a region encompassing a five-state area including Texas, she wore power suits and flew many miles in the corporate jet plane. Joyce loved to sew and provided many custom-made outfits for family, especially the children. Always enjoying staying active, she worked for a while at Cloth World and also at Flowers by Fran. With a love for gardening, she raised many beautiful flowers and delicious fruits and vegetables which she spent hours canning. Joyce also enjoyed baking cookies and made the best sugar cookies, chocolate covered cherries, kolaches and everything else. She won many rosettes and blue-ribbon awards for her entries in local and county fairs. After retiring to Burleson County, she became active in various civic groups around the area and was named the “Outstanding Senior Woman of 2009” of Burleson County. Joyce served as chairperson for the Women’s Forum for three years, also served on the Forever Young committee, and was co-chair of the Kolache Bake Show; she judged and participated at numerous fairs, 4H and EEA cultural arts events, and was an avid Chilifest volunteer. Another accomplishment of personal pleasure was her attainment of the title of Master Gardener for ten years. She worked on Pizza Ranch as well as in their garden. And she was proud to have her recipes published in “Cook ‘Em Horns”. Travel was high on her list of enjoyment and she especially loved the EEA bus tours, where she and Jon saw many interesting places with their friends. She and Jon traveled on their own vacations, too, to destinations as far away as Bangkok, Thailand and eventually touring Europe. Joyce also enjoyed playing the penny slots, shopping, and country music.

Survivors include her loving husband, Jon F. Brooks who has cared for her every need at their home the last few years until December 2017 when she went into memory care. She is also survived by her brother, Marvin Kocurek and sisters, Frances Wheat, Jane and Glen Hill, and Alice Kocurek; brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law Mary Jane Kocurek, Richard “Dick” Brooks, Victor and Linda Beasley, Jeanie and David (Brooks) Mundine and Julia “Judy” Brooks. She is also survived by nieces and nephews; Conway and Connie Wheat, Jan and Hoby Payne, Chris Ward, Sabrina Ward Greenlee, Eric and Jennifer Kocurek, Omar and KiJa Hon Kocurek, Lisa and David Boatwright, Laura and Chuck Hopp, Gavrila “Bear” Brooks, Marcanne Smith, Danny Brooks, David and Kristin Beasley, Vicki and Timothy McDade, Jessica and Travis Ballew, and Johnny Pate and Katie Jones, along with numerous great nieces and nephews. Her extra special friends during her lifetime are Mary Ann Meyer Bryan and Linda Beth Beasley.

She was preceded in death by her parents, a brother, William Kocurek, a sister-in-law, Esther Kocurek, and brothers-in-law Gene Wheat and Larry Brooks.

Pallbearers will be David Beasley, Johnny Pate Jones, Hoby Payne, Chris Ward, Conway Wheat, and John Paul Wheat. Honorary pallbearers are Travis Ballew, Victor Beasley, Guy Hutson, David Mundine, Eric Kocurek and Omar Kocurek.

Flowers are welcome and memorial contributions may be made to the Snook Brethren Church, P.O. Box 247, Snook, TX 77878-0247, The Houston & Southeast Texas Chapter Alzheimer’s Association, 6055 South Loop East, Houston, TX 77087, Community Christian Church, Rosenburg, Texas or the charity of one's choice.

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