Patti & Sarge (John)

Picture taken at Carrol Gordon's house on the way to

 50th Reunion--Oct. 2005

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Brooke Gentile

The Willits News

Posted: 07/22/2009 11:03:59 AM PDT

Her many friends and family members were saddened at the unexpected death of Brooke Gentile on Friday, July 17, 2009 at her Brooktrails home.

Born in Glendale in 1938, Brooke came to Willits 25 years ago; her husband, John Paul "Sarge" Gentile, joined her after his retirement of 34 years in service at the Burbank Police Department and the State Police force.

Sarge said he and Brooke and their family took a trip through the redwoods while they still lived in Burbank; when they came to Willits, Brooke said, "I'm going to live here someday."

That pledge lasted 43 years. She always said she loved Willits for the trees and the wild life and the beauty of the land, and she loved the community, her fellowship; St. Francis in the Redwoods Episcopal Church and all her friends in Willits. This is where she wanted to live out her life.

Brooke's life was varied and interesting. She graduated from John Burroughs High School in Burbank and immediately got a job at age 17 at the Los Angeles city Public Works Department.

From that position she went on to become a secretary to the chief of detectives in the Burbank Police Station where she first met Sarge, who was working in the detective unit.

From that position she went to work as the business office manager for a doctor in Burbank, where she met her good friend Myrna Hase, who says Brooke was the best friend and co-worker she ever had.

Her next position was as a counselor's secretary at Luther Burbank Junior High School for six years, before moving first to Big Bear Lake and then to Redding, where she was an emergency room clerk at Mercy Hospital.

While she was in Redding, she saw an advertisement for a part-time secretarial job at the Willits Fire Department; she jumped at it to complete her dream of someday living in Willits.

True to her nature, Brooke soon reorganized the Willits Fire Department office and developed her job into a full-time civil service position, which it still is today.

This also began her dedication to scanners. Sarge says she had three scanners, a portable one she could take with her in the car and two others at home. She kept up with all the law enforcement, ambulance and emergency calls in the community, and could tell from hearing their sirens which ones were responding.

Her boss was then-Willits Fire Chief Dave Thomen, who jokingly stated upon her arrival as secretary, "I was expecting a mechanic." Thomen went on to become Brooktrails fire chief and was replaced by Jeff Smith, to whom Brooke was completely devoted.

Sarge says he fell in love with the beautiful redhead the first time he saw her and successfully lured her on their first date with a stick of Doublemint gum. Whatever it was, the couple survived 50 years of marriage on May 9 of this year. They built their custom dream home in Brooktrails on a rugged hillside shaded by redwood trees and frequented by deer, wild turkeys and owls.

Her joy and hobbies in her retirement were genealogy, her affiliation with the Daughters of the American Revolution, homemaking, and above all, her family.

Her husband says Brooke was always partial to firefighters and law enforcement personnel. "She adopted them she was like a mother figure to them. They were her "extended family".

Brooke is survived by husband Sarge; son Tony Gentile of Reno, Nevada; daughters Leslie Kathleen Chamberlain of North Lake Tahoe and Lorlee Kim Anderson of Weimar; brother Lee Brooks of Train Mountain, Chiloquin, Oregon; grandchildren Kristofor and Kaleb Anderson, and Benjamin and Megan Gentile; as well as four step-children, numerous nieces, nephews and two great-grandchildren.

The world, her devoted family, her many friends and her community have lost a charming, interesting and lovely person a refined lady who was spirited and wild at heart.

A celebration of Brooke's life will be held at St. Francis in the Redwoods Episcopal Church at 10 a.m. on Sunday, July 26, followed by a reception in the Parish Hall. Her friends and all acquaintances are cordially invited.

***In-lieu of flowers, donations in Brooke's memory can be made to her beloved fire department, Little Lake Fire District.