My mother was born the second child of Charles Williamson and Catherine Davidson Jack. In 1912 when my mother was 7, her father died of Black Lung disease from years of working in the coal mines. Money was almost non existent and things were very
hard for their family. In 1913 her mother married Matthias Johnson. He was a tailor by trade and sometimes mom would help him in his shop. She said she loved to watch him sit cross legged on the table and sew by hand. She went to work to help out her family at age 14 at Emery Bird Thayer in Kansas City by lying about her age. She met my dad while working at the Security Benefit in Topeka. Because of her hard young life, she was always willing to help anyone that needed it and opened her home to family members many times over the years when they were experiencing difficulty. She also made a home for my dad's parents, which was no easy task since my grandmother was bed fast for almost two years. She helped to start the first women's bowling league in Topeka and was a Charter member of the Topeka Women's Bowling Association. She was very active in the WSCS and then the UMW of Tecumseh UM Church. She loved Minnie Pearl and developed a Minnie Pearl act which she preformed for senior groups and church events. She loved to play bingo. She lived to be 99 and 6 months and was able to get around with a walker and take care of herself until about 4 months before her death. She was a wonderful woman and much loved by her family.

Vivian Sophie Williamson Brooks, 99, was born Aug. 14, 1905, in Burlingame, the daughter of Charles Henry Williamson and Catherine Davidson Jack. She went to be with the Lord on Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2005. She went to school in Burlingame and Kansas City, Kan. At age 14, she went to work at Emery Bird Thayer in Kansas City to help support her family. After moving to Topeka, she worked for Security Benefit Life Insurance Co. and the Kansas State Highway Department, and in later years she was a cook at Tecumseh North Grade School. She was a member of the Security Benefit drill team and Live Wires Retirees, a charter member of the Topeka Women's Bowling Association, the Victory Highway Club, Tecumseh United Methodist Church and Tecumseh United Methodist Women. She married John Dexter Brooks on Feb. 26, 1927, in Topeka. He died Feb. 20, 1984. She also was preceded in death by her siblings, Henry Williamson, Violet Pratt, Paul Johnson, Anna Marie Sewell, Lavera Hu mphrey and Devina Steele; and a granddaughter, Theresa Marie Griffith. She is survived by a daughter and son-in-law, Katheryn and Marion James Griffith; four grandchildren, Cynthia Nelson, Rebecca Burgess, Debra Rukes, and Daniel Griffith; 10 great-grandchildren; and a great-great-grandchild. A funeral service will be at 10 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 5, at Penwell-Gabel Parker-Price Chapel in North Topeka. Interment will be in Topeka Cemetery. Mrs. Brooks will lie in state after 3 p.m. today at the funeral home, where the family will receive friends from 7 to 8 p.m. Memorial contributions may be sent to Midland Hospice Care, 200 S.W. Frazier Circle, Topeka, 66606, or Tecumseh United Methodist Church, 334 S.E. Tecumseh Road, Tecumseh, Kan. 66542. To leave a special message for the family online, visit www.penwellgabel.com .
Published in Topeka Capital-Journal on Feb. 4, 2005
Contributed by Find A Grave contributor Judy McAsey Arnold