Allegan County MI Archives Biographies.....Brooks, Charles November 30, 1927 - April 26, 1993
************************************************
Copyright.  All rights reserved.
http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
http://www.usgwarchives.net/mi/mifiles.htm
************************************************

File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Shone Brooks sbrooks@fry.com September 9, 2005, 1:45 am

Author: Daniel Shone Brooks

"Old Man of the Woods"
He was born November 30, 1927 by the name of Carl Elmer Owen, in Allegan, 
Michigan, where he lived his entire life. His parents were Leonard Harrison 
Owen and Myrtle (Hough) Owen, but soon after he was born, they realized he was 
ill and that he might not receive adequate care given their difficult financial 
situation and the onset of winter. So, they graciously accepted an offer by 
their good friends and neighbors, Charles and Ellen Brooks to adopt the infant 
Carl. Charles and Ellen renamed him Charles Elmer Brooks. 
For most of his life, he resented the fact that his parents had given him up 
for adoption while keeping all of his siblings. He believed they had simply not 
loved him as much as the others. As he grew into a man, he worked very hard for 
his adopted parents and helped provide the money they needed to buy a farm, 
leaving school after the ninth grade to do so. When they passed away, he was 
shocked when they bequeathed the farm to their biological daughter (who had no 
interest in farming) rather than to him. Under an agreement with his foster 
sister, he earned enough money to buy the farm from her, thus paying twice for 
the farm he had grown to love. 

His marriage to Kate Mary Jane Meunier ended in divorce, April 21, 1969, but 
not before producing three children, Paul Eugene, Daniel Thomas (19), and Rose 
Ellen (17). 

While working as a furniture finisher, an on-the-job accident injured his back. 
He never fully recovered and spent most of the rest of his life on public 
assistance and Social Security. This did not prevent him from working in his 
gardens, or regularly hunting and fishing, all of which he thoroughly enjoyed. 
He was also quite good at such outdoor activities, and his friends and family 
often referred to him as the "Old Man of the Woods" after a half-serious 
fashion. He could make and successfully use home-made turkey calls and deer-
scents. He was very successful at finding stone indian arrowheads, even having 
found a solid black arrowhead about which he had dreamed years earlier. He 
never found the gold arm-band that he'd also dreamed about. Local residents 
would often invite him to "witch" new water wells for them, for which he was 
well renowned. 

Over the years, his blue eyes and blond hair provided him a youthful look 
despite his increasing age. Living alone in a two-room "house" with minimal 
electrical convenience and no indoor plumbing, he often shared the produce from 
his gardens and the game he hunted with those around him. He also shared his 
special brand of humor and story-telling that helped him make friends easily. 
He could also be very annoying at times, even purposely so. In fact, his CB 
buddies repeatedly awarded him the "Agitator of the Year" award, of which he 
was quite proud and the trophy for which he openly displayed in his front yard, 
not far from his infamous "sex rock".

He smoked regularly with occasional, unsuccessful attempts to quit. He detested 
doctors, and for the most part would have nothing to do with them. By the time 
he was convinced to get a medical check-up, he had developed diabetes. A later 
visit for an obvious growth on his back, proved he had waited too long. The 
diagnosis was cancer (Metastatic melanoma), and the growth was surgically 
removed, leaving him in a weakened condition. Since the cancer had already 
spread to his lungs, it was only a matter of time before he would succomb to it.

He died April 26, 1993 in his son's home in Fennville, Michigan (MI Death Cert# 
021079). He is buried in Oakwood Cemetery, Allegan, Michigan. 


Additional Comments:
He was my grandfather.

Photo: http://www.usgwarchives.net/mi/allegan/photos/bios/brooks66gbs.jpg

File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/mi/allegan/bios/brooks66gbs.txt

This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/mifiles/

File size: 4.3 Kb