Brooker, Sr., James Edwin

James Edwin Brooker, Sr., 91, of Blacksburg passed away May 14, 2015. In writing of his life, he said, “life shouldn’t be ordinary.” His children— Cynthia, Jim Jr., Steven, Margery, Rosemary, and John — were central to his extraordinary life.

Extraordinary experiences included the bustling 1920s streets of Detroit where he and his brother, Charles, were born and their retreat to family in Texas in the Great Depression with their parents, Julian and Anna Hitchcock Brooker.

During World War II, he served on a Navy minesweeper in the Pacific, and postwar, on carriers in the Mediterranean and Navy schools stateside. Before retiring with 26 years of service, he became a Senior Chief Petty Officer. New jobs with Hospital Corporation of American brought him to the New River Valley where he met and married Susan Gross and to building a new home in the woods—much of it with his own hands.

Surviving him also are the dear spouses of his children—Richard Poe, Sophitsa Brooker, John Kline, Stephen Haynes, and Blair Lawton, his seven grandchildren—Aaron, Nick, Olivia, Rachel, Rain, Steve, and Vincent, and his very special caregivers, Nara and Luba.

A memorial service will be held Tuesday, May 19, at 1 pm at McCoy Funeral Home Chapel with Rev. Gary McCoy officiating. Burial will follow in the Southwest Virginia Veterans Cemetery, Dublin. Visitation held Monday, May 18 from 5 to 7 pm at McCoy Funeral Home, 150 Country Club Drive SW, Blacksburg.