Ina Mae Brooks, age 80, of Lamar, passed away Tuesday morning, September 22, 2015 at Truman Healthcare Center where she had been a resident for the past month.
Ina Mae was born November 17, 1934 in Detroit, Michigan, the third of the four children of Russell and Alice (Camp) Kelley. At the age of eight, Ina Mae was afflicted with polio and spent time in an iron lung machine. While the disease affected her physically, she totally conquered it in every other aspect of her life and was an inspiration to many. In 1948 Ina Mae moved with her family to a farm north of Milford, Missouri and graduated from Lamar High School in 1952. She had worked for Aaron’s Poultry and Big Smith in Lamar, was a secretary at the Sheltered Workshop and Lamar United Methodist Church for many years before completing her working career at the Independent Living Center in Joplin and Developmental Center in Lamar. Ina Mae was an avid reader and accomplished writer, earning a Missouri Writers Guild Award. She served on the Missouri State Rehabilitation Advisory Council and was an ombudsman for Region X Area Agency on Aging. She was an active member of a post-polio support group and Lamar United Methodist Church.
On August 31, 1952, at Milford, Ina Mae married the love of her life, Charlie Brooks, and he survives of the home. Also surviving are two sons, Tim (Lori) Brooks and Charles Brooks, all of Lamar; a daughter, Sandra Brooks, Eldon, Missouri; daughter-in-law, Patti Brooks, Lamar; a brother, Bill (Turid) Kelley of California; a sister, Dorothy (Bob) McMackin, Metaline Falls, Washington; four grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
Ina Mae was preceded in death by her parents; a son, Bill Brooks; a sister, Frances Southern; and two nieces, Dana Sisk and Barbara Lynn Brown.
Funeral services were held Friday, September 25, at Lamar United Methodist Church.
Memorial contributions are suggested to the Community Betterment Back-pack Program in care of Daniel Funeral Home.
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