AMHERST — Whether serving on the Select Board and Amherst Housing Authority, teaching Pelham schoolchildren for more than 30 years, or helping lead the annual Black History Month celebration and promoting voting rights, Judy Brooks left an indelible impact.
Brooks, who died at 74 at her Amherst home last week, is being remembered by friends and acquaintances for her significant contributions over the past 45 years.
“She was just a force, a beacon of light, a bridge,” says Andrea Battle, a retired teacher who moved from New York to Amherst in 2011 to be closer to her grandchildren. “She wanted to help people; that was her mission in life.”
Onawumi Jean Moss, emeritus dean of students at Amherst College, said Brooks’ goal in life was to be a warrior for justice, freedom and uniting all humans.
“Her practice of friendship permeated all her other roles,” Moss said. “She saw friendship as a means to overcome barriers and obstacles to build a better version of ourselves in terms of our institutions, so they could become more humane and more compassionate.”
“Always ebullient, infectiously,” is how Adrienne Terrizzi, a close friend, said she will remember Brooks. “You couldn’t help be with her and not be hopeful, to be committed to the values that she was also committed to and espoused.”
Brooks and her husband, Barry, along with their two small children, came to Amherst in the 1970s to be house parents at the A Better Chance House on North Prospect Street. They immediately became involved in the community.
Former Select Board member Carolyn Holstein, who served alongside Brooks on the Select Board in the late 1980s, recalls racial incidents that erupted at the time and Brooks’ ability to confront the problems in a positive manner.
“She was excellent in helping the board and the town to deal with it,” Holstein said. “She did it in such a loving and caring way.”
Brooks also was active in politics at the local, state and national level. Growing up in Washington, D.C., she participated in the civil rights movement, assisting with Martin Luther King Jr.’s Poor People’s Campaign, and was on the National Mall on Aug. 28, 1963, the day King delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. She supported Barack Obama for president in 2008 and was one of three western Massachusetts delegates to the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina in 2012, representing the 2nd Massachusetts Congressional District.
Former state Senate president Stanley Rosenberg said Brooks had a “heart of gold,” and appreciated her constant upbeat perspective.
“Judy always had a smile on her face, a kind word and something encouraging to say in any situation,” Rosenberg said.
This was her attitude despite a breast cancer diagnosis in 1990, which she fought successfully over a period of years, though she continued to have various health problems.
Marcie Sclove worked alongside Brooks in the voter services initiative of the League of Women Voters of Amherst, and marveled at how Brooks would seek out people who might not be participating in elections, going to barbershops, a backyard barbecues or the Amherst Survival Center.
Sclove observes that Brooks was always nudging Amherst to be more aware of people of color.
“Once here, Judy and Barry had a positive presence, they became good citizens of the community,” Sclove said.
“She’s a gentle and persistent giant in this community,” said Human Resources Director Deborah Radway, who worked with Brooks to organize the annual Black History Month ceremony.
Radway said Brooks always had the theme that people should make joyful noise to celebrate Black History Month, and then would interrupt the ceremony to make another point.
“She would say, ‘say hello to your neighbor’”, Radway said. “Connectivity was so important to her.”
This was evident from the first time Andrea Battle met Brooks at the Hampshire Athletic Club’s swimming pool.
“She really helped gear me toward the things that are good for the community,” said Battle, who was pushed to serve on the Housing and Sheltering Committee.
“She was about taking care of the community, about serving people, about helping newcomers,” Battle said. “Basically, she’s a community superstar.”
Terrizzi said she recalls when the couple first arrived in Amherst. “They were the first black family that garnered a very profound effect on the community,” Terrizzi said.
In fact, Holstein notes that Brooks remains the only African-American woman to have served on the top board.
Current Select Board member Connie Kruger said Brooks was a strong female leader and bridge builder, helping to found the Massachusetts Women Elected Municipal Officials group.
“Judy was truly dedicated to helping lift others up,” Kruger said. “I will miss her positive energy and determination to make the world a better place.”
Brooks spent about 25 years on the Amherst Housing Authority board, taught for 31 years at Pelham Elementary and was head of the Amherst-Pelham Education Association.
“She emerged not just as any teacher, but an award-winning educator,” Moss said.
Rebecca Casagrande of Pelham said that her husband and two of her children had Brooks as a teacher, and she motivated them to be civic minded and inclusive of all people, and was a driving factor in the “be a buddy not a bully” curriculum.
“Judy did her best to help her students learn about perspective of different cultures,” Casagrande said. “It was amazing for both of my children to have a strong-minded, no-nonsense African-American role model in a school that had such little diversity among students and staff.”
It was at the elementary school where former state Rep. Ellen Story remembers Brooks organizing a day to appreciate Story, coming in the midst of issues she was having with then House Speaker Thomas Finneran,
“Judy Brooks, didn’t like it, Judy Brooks was on my my side, and and you always want Judy Brooks to be on your side,” Story said.
Story met with all classes and still has a photo album from that day. She remembers one class put on a brief play for her, a boy commented on the perfume she was wearing and a girl noticed her high heels.
“It was just perfect timing,” Story said. “I cared much more about what the Pelham school children thought of me than what Speaker Finneran thought of me.”
Brooks was honored by Amherst Media with the Jean Haggerty Award, with Terizzi noting she was a force for transparency and openness in government. Brooks was also selected as a “2003 Woman of Achievement” by the Hampshire County Business and Professional Women’s Organization.
“She was just a lovely, lovely person and adored by the community,” Story said. “Judy will be missed enormously.”
Moss said that Brooks should be remembered not only in Amherst and Pelham, but in the state and country.
“She really is a legend,” Moss said
People will come together to remember Brooks July 28 at 1 p.m. at the Amherst Regional High School auditorium.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
