Funeral services for Robert Edwin Brooksbank, Sr., of Loudon, will be held Saturday, March 13, at 2 p.m. at Kyker Funeral Home in Kingston. Burial will be in Kingston Memorial Gardens.
The family will receive friends Saturday from noon until time of services at the funeral home.
There will also be a celebration of his life on Friday, March 12, at 7 p.m. at the Tellico Village Community Church in Loudon.
Mr. Brooksbank went to be with his Lord on Wednesday, March 10, 2010, following a brief illness.
He was born March 11, 1925, in Jamaica, New York, to the late William Arthur and Ethel Jackson Brooksbank. He married Carolyn Jane Bender Brooksbank on December 18, 1949. They were happily married for almost 50 years before Alzheimer’s Disease took her life.
Mr. Brooksbank attended Tri-State University in Angola, Indiana, and received a B.S. in Chemical Engineering and attended the University of Tennessee for graduate studies. He lived for many years in Kingston, and served as the elected Mayor there from 1965 to 1967. He also served as the King Lion of the Kingston Lions Club and treasurer of the Kingston United Methodist Church.
Mr. Brooksbank was a member of the U.S. Navy during World War II and served as a gunner’s mate and a deep-sea salvage diver. His ship was sunk in the English Channel during the invasion of Normandy, with the loss of four lives.
Mr. Brooksbank worked as the Section Chief of the Pilot Plant Section at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory for 29 years. In addition to his laboratory responsibilities, he performed work for several government agencies including the NRC, DOE, and the State Department. On several occasions he was assigned to emergency situations as a consultant to assist in the containment of radioactive releases. Two of these assignments included the Three Mile Island accident and the crash of a B52 bomber carrying four nuclear weapons at Thule, Greenland. For his efforts he was elected a Fellow in the American Nuclear Society.
He presented numerous technical papers both in this country and abroad. After he retired from ORNL, he was employed by Bechtel National Corporation in San Francisco as a principal engineer responsible for the company’s nuclear effort in Japan and also to maintain an awareness of the nuclear fuel cycle on a worldwide basis. He transferred to Oak Ridge to assist in the formation of an office in that area. After a brief period, he formed Brooksbank Technical Associates, Inc., and continued to provide nuclear consultation to several firms.
For his years of distinguished work in the nuclear industry, Tri-State University presented Mr. Brooksbank with the Distinguished Service Award in 1987.
While Mr. Brooksbank had a notable and interesting professional life, he would say his most important contribution was being a loving husband and a positive influence on the lives of his children and grandchildren.
Mr. Brooksbank’s family includes his wife of ten years, Virginia Pyne Brooksbank; three sons and daughters-in-law, Robert Edwin Jr. and Lisa Cox Brooksbank of Cookeville, Richard Dodd and Donna Tedder Brooksbank of Kingston, and Roger Alan and Darlina Pesterfield Brooksbank of Lenoir City; two daughters and sons-in-law, Becky Ann and Robert Day of Kingston, and Beth Lynn and Kent Adcox of Kingston. His grandchildren are Jason and Ginny Prater Day, Jonathan Day, Michael and Courtney Day, Richard and Jeanna Brooksbank, Sarah and Jeremy McMillan, Jeremy Brooksbank, Aaron Brooksbank, Ryan Brooksbank, and Cody Brooksbank. His stepchildren are Catharine Pyne Cross, Philip Schuyler Pyne, Margaret Pyne Lundie, and David Wallace Pyne. Step grandchildren are Virginia DiGiacomo Wejmars, Catharine DiGiacomo, Joey DiGiacomo, Tara Ellen Lundie, Alex Lundie, Edward Pyne, and Rebekah Pyne.
In addition to his parents, Mr. Brooksbank was preceded in death by his wife and the mother of his children, Carolyn Jane Bender Brooksbank, and two brothers and three sisters.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Alzheimer’s Association, 225 N. Michigan Ave., Fl. 17, Chicago, IL 60601, 1-800-272-3900, or the American Cancer Society by calling 1-800-227-2345.
Dr. Robert Puckett will officiate at both services. Kyker Funeral Home in Kingston is in charge of arrangements.
