STANLEY BROOKS

Stanley Brooks, resident of Rydal Park, passed away on April 4, 2021. He was 92 years young.
Stan was the baby to three older siblings in a working class family in New York City. Stan was
an intellectually curious person who loved sharing his knowledge and insights with others. He
built friendships across the globe and is much beloved by many.
Stan was a 1951 graduate of the National Agricultural College (now Delaware Valley
University). In 1952 he was drafted into the Marine Corp to fight in Korea but before his ship
arrived, the war ended and his unit set out to rebuild Japan . He and a Japanese student of
English developed a strong friendship which endured for decades.
When Stan's mother suffered a stroke in 1953, his older brothers worked through the Red Cross
to return him home, to New York. For the duration of his services, he was stationed in a Watch
Tower in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, guarding the East River from potential enemies.
In late 1954, Stan married Millie Mosko, whom he met in 1950, when both were college
students. Given the choice, he picked his urban bride over a career in farming. He never looked
back.
While Stan's original career goals involved work in farm product processing, he soon joined a
family-run company that bought, sold and refurbished used industrial equipment. Stan happily
continued at Perry Equipment for 38 years. Among his specialties were repurposing sugar
refineries, old-style large American breweries and pharmaceutical tanks.
His work gave Stan insight and knowledge into global manufacturing practices. His boundless
creativity and entrepreneurship led him to pursue business in the Soviet Union and India long
before it became commonplace. He and Millie lived near London for over a year, while Stan
opened the first international office of his company in 1990.
Stan was active in his retirement years. He took great pleasure as a docent at the Franklin
Institute science and technology museum in Philadelphia, taking special interest in the
manufacture of paper. In his 70's, Stan studied clowning and became a hospital clown known as
"Dr. Dandee" visiting patients (kids and adults) in hospitals and providing strong medicine called
'laughter.' Kibitzing aside, his warmth and compassion were most appreciated. He was a leader
at Melrose B'nai Israel Emanu-el and could be counted on to make a minyan.
Stan and Millie raised their family in Philadelphia and Cheltenham, and later moved to Elkins
Park. Their final move landed them in a retirement community two weeks before the world shut
down in March 2020.
Stan is survived by his wife Mildred Brooks, daughter Fran Brooks (Michael Elenko), son Maury
Brooks, daughter Sharon Brooks (Yisroel Schwartz), grandchildren Kaija Elenko, Sasha Elenko,
Aesop Brooks, Yehoshua Schwartz, Leah Schwartz, and Shalom Schwartz, as well as many
other loving relatives.
Stan lives on in the people he touched with his warmth, and joy in connecting with every person
near or far. He brought laughter to hearts and nudged us to see light in darkness. He showed us
that there is no end to curiosity and a certain satisfaction on the journey initiated this way. Just
give it a try.
Contributions in Stan's memory can be made to his shul, Melrose B'nai Israel Emanu-
El http://mbiee.org/ or Feeding America, a U.S. hunger relief organization
https://www.feedingamerica.org/ or your local food bank.