William Porter Brooks BALLSTON LAKE-William Porter Brooks, age 88, of Acorn Grove, died November 8, 2010, in Clifton Park, of congestive heart failure. He was born October 20, 1922 in Chicago IL, and was the son of the late Noah Reynolds and Esther Porter Brooks. Bill grew up in Dobbs Ferry, NY and spent summers as a child on Lake Champlain in and around the family "camp" in Essex, NY. He attended Westchester County public schools until age 14, when he entered Choate School in Wallingford CT. Graduating from Choate in the class of 1940, he attended Princeton University, where he was a member of the Charter Club, and the ROTC Army Field Artillery. He resigned from Princeton, and transferred to the University of Virginia. Soon thereafter, with World War II progressing, he volunteered for immediate induction, but was classified as unfit for military duty due to a congenital spine deformity. Bill then left college and went to work for the New York Central Railroad. He always said the Office of Manager of Freight Transportation was an exciting place to work during wartime, where military goods were being shipped in extraordinary quantities to extraordinary destinations in extraordinary time periods. He married the former Mary Dunlop of Ellenville, NY in 1944, in St. Paul's Chapel at Columbia University. For a brief time he & Mary lived in Bronxville. He and Mary then moved to Fort Wayne, IN where Bill worked for The Farnsworth Television and Radio Company, which was developing television and two-way railroad radio. He attended Indiana University at night, studying business law. Returning east in 1948, he & Mary then settled in Darien CT, where they remained for 27 years. Together they raised a family, and later Mary taught junior high school English. Bill worked as a salesman for a series of paper companies, surviving six mergers, and finished his career representing the Georgia Pacific Company. Mary died in 1973. Bill retired in 1975, and moved to one of his favorite places in the world; Essex NY, on Lake Champlain, where he renovated and winterized the family "camp". In 1977, he married Constance Murray in St. John's Church, Essex NY. They began traveling together, and, after many trips to the UK, decided to move there full time. Bill and Connie bought and renovated a terrace house in medieval Ludlow, Shropshire, in 1984. From there, they participated in the Ludlow community, and traveled through the British Isles and Europe. Connie died in 2004, and in 2005, Bill returned to the US. He briefly lived in the Coburg Village retirement community in Clifton Park, and then with his son Peter, in nearby Ballston Lake. Some of Bill's favorite things about life were, the exciting sounds of Swing Band music; the natural beauty of Lake Champlain; and the delicious tastes of red wine and chocolate. Favorite sayings were, "I've been a very lucky guy", and, after a glass of pinot noir, "I ain't mad at nobody!" He is survived by four children, Elizabeth "Betsy" (David) Dunlop Tisdale of Potsdam, NY, Peter Reynolds (Tina Lyons) Brooks of Ballston Lake, Stephen Converse Brooks of Charlotte, VT and Marcia Parker (Edward Hammond) Brooks of Milwaukee, WI. He also was quite proud to have eight grandchildren, Christopher McCamic of Rochester, Morgan Brooks of Norfolk, VA, Margaret Brooks of Arlington, VA, David Brooks of Ballston Lake, Berkeley Brooks of Burlington, VT, Bentley Brooks of St. Augustine FL, Henry Hammond of Milwaukee WI and Edith Hammond of Milwaukee, WI. He was pre-deceased by his brother, John R. Brooks. Burial will be 10 a.m., Friday November 12, 2010 at Lakeview Cemetery in Willsboro, NY. A Memorial Service will be held at 11 a.m., Friday November 12 at Saint John's Episcopal Church, Essex, NY, with reception immediately following in the Parish Hall. Contributions in his memory may be made to Saint John's Episcopal Church Memorial Fund,PO Box 262, Essex, NY 12936; or to Historic Essex, PO Box 250, Essex, NY 12936; or Boquet River Association. PO Box 782, Willsboro, NY 12996. Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to the Gordon C. Emerick Funeral Home, 1550 Rt. 9, Clifton Park, NY 12065.

Published in The Saratogian on November 9, 2010