Elizabeth Jean Brooks

OBITUARY OF ELIZABETH JEAN BROOKS (1917-2020)Betty, as everyone knew her, passed away at home on April 24, 2020 inRoseburg, at the age of 102. She was born Elizabeth Jean Leedy in Portland,on October 5, 1917, to Harry Ellis Leedy and Loretta Nadean (Viles)Leedy. She attended school in Metzger and Tigard, graduating highschool in 1935, and then attended Northwestern School of Commerce inPortland to learn shorthand and typing. After passing the civil service examinationwith high marks, she was appointed to a position with the U.S.Forest Service, Umpqua National Forest in Roseburg. At nineteen, shebought a car and drove from Portland to Roseburg to take that position inSeptember 1937. There she met and, in 1939, married Donald Guiley. AfterDon returned from military service in World War II in China, they lived inRoseburg, and then in Bend and Salem, returning to Roseburg in 1975.Their life was filled with farming, hunting, fishing, and camping. Don diedin 1979. In 1983 she married Paul Brooks, a widower and a fellow memberof the senior bowling league in Roseburg. Betty was warmly receivedby the extended Brooks family. Paul died in 1988, but the family connectionremained close, and Betty traveled with her step-daughter, Pat, andPat’s son, and was visited often by her step-son, James Brooks, a Portlandphysician, and his family. Betty’s last years were spent in the communityof the Garden Valley retirement home. Her long life encompassedthe two pandemics of contemporary history: the Spanish flu of 1918 andthe current coronavirus. She was predeceased by her parents, her spouses,and her three brothers, Byron, Douglas and Robert Leedy. She is survivedby a niece, Marianne Freitas, and a nephew, Allan Leedy, and theirfamilies. A memorial service will be planned for a later date.
To send a flower arrangement or to plant trees in memory of
Elizabeth Jean Brooks, please click here to visit our Sympathy Store.