Etta Brooks Obituary
An informal gathering to honor the life of Etta Brooks, 91, of Portales, will be announced at a later time.
Etta Rogene Brooks was born Mar. 17, 1934 in Amarillo, TX to the home of Dorothy (Cochrain) and William Arnold Longley and died on the evening of July 8, 2025 in Clovis, NM. Mrs. Brooks came with her family as an infant by covered wagon to the small community of Elkins, NM. She attended school there in Elkins and also at the Acme school near Roswell. At the age of 18, she enlisted in the Women’s Army Corps, and served from 1952 to 1954 as a surgical tech in the Operating Room in an Army hospital in Texas. Following her discharge, Etta lived in Topeka, KS where she met John F. Brooks. Following their marriage, they made their home in Topeka until 1961, when they moved to Clovis, NM. In 1964, they moved to Portales to make their home south of town. The couple divorced in 1971, leaving her with their two sons.
Etta worked at several different local businesses through the years including the Portales Drug and Jimmy’s Cafe. She also did housekeeping for several ladies. In later years, Ms Brooks cared for a number of different local residents providing Elder Care. She retired in 1990’s, but remained very active until only a month ago, caring for her chickens and horse and milking her cow twice a day. After falling she became a resident at Retirement Ranch in Clovis until her death.
She is survived by two sons and daughters-in-law, John and Millie Brooks and Ed and Wendy Brooks both of Portales; five grandchildren, Cassie (Devon) Aguilard, Allie Brooks, Shaindi (Emilio) Baca, Mara Brooks and Lacee Brooks; four great-grandchildren, Navaeh Aguilard, Ryan Martinez, Mila Baca and Nolan Baca; and a sister, Dorothy Hellums of Roswell, NM. She was preceded in death by her parents, four brothers, Emmitt, Garland, Jay and Happy Longley and two sisters, Faye Payne and Juanita Coffman.
