Melanie Dee Brooks

Melanie Dee Brooks passed away peacefully on May 2, 2014. She was born in Grand Forks, N.D. on August 15, 1952 but grew up in Walker, Minn. Her father, Bill Taylor, was the Chamber of Commerce secretary while her mother, Gladys Flom, was the school librarian.

Dee graduated with a degree in nursing from the University of North Dakota in 1975. She was a US Navy nurse at the San Diego Naval Hospital from 1975-1977 and later worked for San Diego County as a public health nurse in Clairemont and La Jolla. She married Ward Brooks in 1978 and moved to Fallbrook in 1984.

Dee was a member of the Fallbrook Garden Club and had been named member of the year and had co-chaired the annual flower show. She was especially interested in floral design and was an accredited flower show judge. She studied Norwegian rosemaling, a folk art, and won several blue ribbons at the Del Mar Fair. She also enjoyed serving as a docent at Live Oak Park.

Dee is survived by daughter Emily Broadwater, her husband David and their son Jeremy of Dayton, Ohio; son Ryan Brooks and his wife Dariana and their son Landon of San Diego, Calif.; husband Ward Brooks; and sister Andree Sterling of Tickfaw, La.

A memorial service will be held at Berry-Bell & Hall in Fallbrook at 5 p.m., Saturday, May 10.