Conley Brooks was a quiet pillar in Twin Cities business and philanthropy, part of a generation of Minnesotans who believed in giving back to the community with diligence, persistence and care.
Brooks, of Wayzata, died Dec. 16 of natural causes at 92.
"He was an icon," said Gordon Sprenger, former CEO of Allina Health System and Brooks' friend for more than four decades. "We're losing a generation of Minnesotans who cared so much about our state and about people — a generation that made our community great."
Born in St. Paul, Brooks led his family's successful lumber business, Brooks Scanlon Inc., for many years, serving as chairman, CEO and board member. In fact, he never quite retired, even though the firm was sold in 1980. He kept busy with family enterprises and corporate boards despite suffering a stroke at age 89.
"He was always in the office, he had a flair for making things happen and he was interested in everyone," said his son Conley Brooks Jr. "He was our patriarch."
Brooks was immersed in the local business and philanthropic communities, serving as a board member and trustee at Carleton College, as chairman of the Minneapolis Foundation, and as trustee of Abbott Northwestern Hospital and affiliated organizations, including the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation. He also was a long-standing member of the board at First National Bank of Minneapolis, now US Bank, Northwestern National Life Insurance Co. and others.
Brooks grew up in Eastcliff, his family's home, which later became the official residence of University of Minnesota presidents. He attended St. Paul Academy, then Yale University, where he and Ken Dayton of the Dayton's department store family worked as orderlies at a Connecticut hospital. The experience sparked an abiding interest in medicine — they long called each other "Doc."
Brooks served in the Army Air Forces as a flight instructor in World War II, honing a lifelong interest in airplanes.