Mary Joy Brooks

EASTHAM - Mary Joy (Spalding) Brooks (1930 – 2012) of Eastham, MA passed away on Thursday, October 4 after living 11 ½ years with breast cancer. She passed peacefully and painlessly, in a home she had built to her exact specifications, surrounded by her elder sister, daughter, daughter-in-law, and son.

Mary Joy was born in West Point, NY, the youngest of three children of Colonel Alba Carlton and Dorothy (Dodds) Spalding. The product of an often mobile Army family, Mary Joy had a diverse childhood experience, attending elementary schools in Queens, NY, West Point, NY, Ft. Leavenworth, KS, Virginia Beach, VA, and the Panama Canal Zone, and High School in Haverstraw, NY, and Frankfurt, Germany.

After graduation from the Army Dependent School in Frankfurt, Germany, she worked as a file clerk for US Army Special Services in Bad Kissingen, and for the RCA Service Company of Southeast New York (New City, NY).

In 1955, Mary Joy married Paul Wallace Brooks of Haverstraw, NY then moved to Nanuet, NY, where the couple began a family.

Mary Joy was the leader of a Girl Scout Troop in Valley Cottage, NY, inspiring a love of nature and independence in many young women. A highlight of her experiences was coaching a championship canoe team, the Kamikaze Canoers, a consummate underdog team.

An avid lover of colonial history, Mary Joy was a member of the Shatemuc Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR); the Orange County Militia Shore Guard, a Revolutionary War reenactment group from the Hudson Valley; and the Rockland County Historical Society.

Mary Joy worked part time as a bookkeeper and pharmacy technician at her husband’s pharmacy in New City, NY, until Paul’s death in 1986.

After settling the estate of her late husband, Mary Joy pursued her life-long ambition to become a resident of Cape Cod. In 1988 she purchased a ½ acre plot of undeveloped land and, with the help of local builder David Fleming and realtor Patty La Branche, designed and constructed her dream house, appropriately named ‘Mary’s Joy,’ in a rustic, pine-treed grove in Eastham.

On Cape Cod, Mary Joy resumed her occupation as a pharmacy technician with Thayer Pharmacy, Orleans, which was later acquired by CVS Pharmacy. She worked for CVS until her retirement in 2009.

In January 2001, Mary Joy was diagnosed with stage four metastatic breast cancer. Rather than focusing on her illness, she decided instead to focus on living and enjoying her life in the best possible way, and for as long as possible.

In the 11 intervening years between her diagnosis and death, Mary Joy enjoyed trips to England, Scotland, Ireland, Mainland China, the Arctic Circle and Antarctica, as well as whitewater rafting on the Green River, Utah, and Allagash River, Maine, and Ocean Kayaking in Nova Scotia Bay.

In 2004, Mary Joy and her sister participated in a decorating crew for the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, CA. They worked on the entry from the city of La Canãda-Flintridge, CA entitled “Backyard Heroes” which won the Governor’s Trophy for best community-built float.

Mary Joy was also an avid genealogist, successfully tracing her family’s roots back more than 14 generations, from 9th Century England to descendants who travelled to America on the Mayflower.

Local Eastham residents might recall Mary Joy’s displays of patriotism. For the last three July Fourths, Mary Joy could be seen on the sidewalk in front of Eastham Windmill Green, wearing full Colonial dress with Mob Hat and long skirt, and waving a 13-star Revolutionary War flag and a teapot.

Mary Joy is survived by her sister, Cadena (Spalding) Tedlock of Lighthouse Point, FL, her daughter, Beverly Anne, of Stony Point, NY, her son, David Spalding and daughter-in-law, Susan, of New City, NY, her granddaughter, Stephanie , of Brooklyn, NY, and her grandson, Peter, of Chestnut Ridge, NY.

A memorial service will be held at Germonds Presbyterian Church, New City, NY, on Saturday, October 13.

In lieu of flowers, the family wishes that all who knew Mary Joy gather together with their own loved ones and have a joyful meal, celebrating life, love and family.