Carrie Brooks Salkeld

On Thursday, October 3, 2024, Carrie Salkeld (otherwise lovingly known as Carrie Ida Barry or Carrie Brooks), made the move to her permanent home in Heaven. While her presence will be deeply missed by those she left behind, we know that she is rejoicing in Heaven with the family she’s longed to reunite with for years.

Born in Fitzgerald, GA, she spent the majority of her adult life in Clearwater, Florida where she raised her two daughters with her first husband, Billy Brooks. Later, after Billy’s passing, she fell in love again and married Gilbert Salkeld. When Gil passed as well, Carrie moved to California to live the remainder of her years with her eldest daughter.

Faith and community were foundational to Carrie’s life. She could be found each morning in her rocking chair spending quiet time with God in a devotional. She was first a long-standing member of St. Paul United Methodist Church, in Largo, then Anona United Methodist Church, in Largo. One of Carrie’s great joys was singing, both in her quiet moments and with a community of other singers in the Choraleers choir.

Carrie was a “can-do” girl with a flare for fashion. Her careers were numerous, ranging from homemaker to office assistant, seamstress to fashion model. Driven as she was, she was even an entrepreneur following licensure as a hearing aid specialist, launching her own business, Brooks Hearing Aids. No matter the title, she was always stylish, smartly dressed, and well-spoken. Anyone who had the pleasure of meeting her knew she was intelligent, kind, and hard-working, a pillar of every community she participated in.

While she deeply loved her entire family, her greatest joy was spending time with "her girls" in the day-to-day trips to and from school, attending dance practice and recitals, swimming in the pool, and hosting birthday parties. Most of all, she enjoyed sitting with them in the evenings to read, sparking a passion for literature that still lives on in every one of “her girls”.

Ever wonderful, she would greet everyone with a big, genuine smile, and near-musical hello. For those closest to her, it was always followed by the warmest hug. She was a cornerstone of people’s lives, strong-willed, deeply loving, and always proud to be herself.

She was a sister, wife, mom, and aunt, but the title she treasured the most was Nana. She adored having grandchildren and they adored her in turn. For many years, she had “her girls" over as often as possible to swim, cook, visit the library, and enjoy the simple things in life together.

Later, the next generation, her great-grandchildren, looked forward to their daily walks around the block with her, donning matching sun hats to stay clear-eyed in the warm sun.

She taught all of her grandchildren that love is simple and unyielding. Love is walking hand in hand and dipping your toes in the pool with dear ones who hum under every breath.

Carrie's survivors include her daughters, Tamela Messina (Joseph) and Traci Brooks; grandchildren, Chloe Brooks-Noriega and Ella Brooks-Noriega; sisters-in-law, Bessie Mae Barry and Janice Newton Barry; and a passel of extended family members too numerous to list fully, including nieces, nephews, step-grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her second husband of 19 years, Gilbert Salkeld (d. 2014), her first husband of 28 years, Billy Brooks (d. 1988); her parents Thomas Jefferson Barry and Ethel Thomas Barry; siblings, James Barry, Lilla Tucker, Ween Davis, Pete Barry, Cora Lee Powers, Dena Miller, Vada Gillespie, and Robert Barry.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a gift to her most recent church home, Eagle Mountain Int’l Church (via The Victory Channel), Fort Worth, TX 76192, or your local public library, where her love of reading took root and blossomed.

Life, lovely while it lasts, is soon over.

Life as we know it, precious and beautiful, ends.

The body is put back in the same ground it came from.

The spirit returns to God, who first breathed it.

~ Ecclesiastes 12:6-7 MSG ~