General Brooks, a native of Washington, DC, lived a full life rich with a loving family, friends, his church, career, volunteering, and more. Born to Warren and Lelia Brooks, General Brooks was the youngest of six full siblings and two half-siblings. They were a large, close-knit family. After losing both parents by age 14, General Brooks’ siblings helped to guide him through high school and beyond. A product of the D.C. Public Schools, General Brooks graduated from Dunbar High School (1949). He spent two years at Howard University and graduated from Miami University with a B.A. in Zoology and a commission into the USAF via ROTC. He later received an M.S. degree from George Washington University and completed the Industrial College of the Armed Forces and the Executive Program of the Graduate School of Business at the University of Virginia.

In 1985, General Brooks retired from the U.S. Air Force after 30 years of service during which he held a wide variety of important positions. Among them were Missile Combat Crew Commander and Instructor Crew Commander with the Atlas F Strategic Missile System (Lincoln, NE) during the Cuban Missile Crisis; Flight Control Technologist for Gemini and Apollo space missions at NASA’s Johnson Space Center; R&D Personnel Manager at Headquarters, USAF; the Military Assistant to two Secretaries of Defense (Donald Rumsfeld and Harold Brown); Commander of a major missile wing and Air Force installation; arms control policy-maker and advisor to the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Presidential appointee as Deputy Commissioner of the U.S.-U.S.S.R. Standing Consultative Commission; and Assistant Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (Nuclear and Space Systems). His proudest achievements in his military career were being the Commander of the team winning the Blanchard Trophy for Best Missile Wing competition in Strategic Air Command, USAF participating in the development of U.S. arms control policy as the representative of Joint Chiefs of Staff. He played a direct role in formulating the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty and the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaties.

After leaving active military service, General Brooks became a self-employed consultant to the high technology industry and then General Manager of a private investment banking firm in London. He was later recruited by NASA Headquarters (Senior Executive Service) as Assistant for Special Projects. He also served as Deputy Associate Administrator for Management Systems and Facilities and later for Space Communications. He retired in 1995.

General Brooks remained very active at the Nineteenth Street Baptist Church including time spent in the Manhood Training Ministry mentoring young African American boys. He was also one of the founding members of the Dunbar Alumni Federation (Dunbar High School, Washington, DC). Giving back to the community where he grew up was extremely important to him.

General Brooks’ awards and decorations include the Blanchard Trophy, USAF; the NAACP Armed Services and Veterans Affairs Meritorious Award; the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, DOD; The Defense Superior Service Medal, with two Oak Leaf Clusters; Excalibur Award for Achievement, Edges Group, Inc., NY (a national business/civic organization); Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award, George Washington University; the NASA Medal for Outstanding Leadership; the NASA Equal Employment Opportunity Medal; and the Living Legend Award, the Pigskin Club of Washington, DC, Inc. His affiliations include Vice-Chair and former Chair, Board of Trustees, and member and former President, Senior Usher Board, Nineteenth Street Baptist Church, Washington, DC; member and former Vice-Chair, Board of Directors, and Mentor, Luke C. Moore Academy Senior High School, Washington, DC; Senior Member, American Institute of Aeronautics & Astronautics; Air Force Association; Tuskegee Airmen, Inc.; Association of Air Force Missileers; NAACP; and Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity.

General Brooks was the great-grandson of Albert Royal Brooks, a slave who became a successful businessman and in freedom a politician. His great-grandmother, Lucy Goode Brooks, also born a slave, helped to establish an orphanage in Richmond, VA for orphaned slave children after the Civil War. Elmer’s grandfather, Rev. Walter H. Brooks, was a slave until age 14 and pastor of the Nineteenth Street Baptist Church in Washington, DC for 63 years. Julia E. Brooks, Elmer’s aunt, was the Vice-Principal and Dean of Girls at Dunbar High School and an incorporator of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, the first sorority founded by African American women in America.

General Brooks is survived by his beloved wife of 66 years, Kathryn, a daughter, two sons, seven grandchildren, a great-grandchild, a brother, and a host of dear relatives and friends. He was predeceased by a son.