Native son Tom Brooks passes away

Dr. Tom Brooks, AHS Veterans Memorial dedication, 2016

Grand Marshal, 4th of July 2017

Beloved family doctor, military veteran and Anacortes community leader Dr. Tom Brooks passed away on June 6, 2025. A memorial service will be held on June 28, 11:00 a.m. at First Baptist Church in Anacortes. His obituary follows:

Thomas Pidduck Brooks was born on February 20, 1926, in Anacortes, Washington, to Samuel Gordon Brooks and Edna Pidduck Brooks Truax. He passed away peacefully in Mountlake Terrace, Washington, on June 6, 2025, at the age of 99.

Tom spent nearly his entire life in Anacortes, with a few meaningful chapters elsewhere. After graduating from high school in 1944, he joined the Army and served in the India-Burma Theater during World War II. When the war ended, he returned home and enrolled at the University of Washington, where he spent the next eight years earning his M.D., graduating in 1954.

When Tom was in sixth grade, he met a girl named Alice Strom who had just moved to Anacortes from Guemes Island. He quickly fell for her, and from that moment on, they were inseparable. They married in 1948 and celebrated 71 years together. They welcomed their first son, Stephen, while Tom was typing his final paper in the hospital waiting room. The family relocated to Sacramento for his residency before returning to Anacortes, where Tom fulfilled his dream of taking over his father’s medical practice.

Together, Tom and Alice raised four children: Stephen (born 1954), Robert (born 1956), and twins Marilyn and Marianne (born 1958), all born in Anacortes. The family remained deeply rooted in the community they loved.

Tom found great joy in his work as a general practitioner, a role he cherished for his entire career. He delivered babies, performed surgeries, treated families across generations, and served as a medical director for the local refineries and nursing homes. In the 1970s, he became a Clinical Adjunct Professor at the University of Washington, mentoring students in family medicine. So many babies were delivered by his capable and caring hands that Island Hospital named its Birthing Center in his honor.

His deep commitment to Anacortes extended beyond his practice. He was a founding member of the Bank of Anacortes, an active Kiwanis Club member, and a regular volunteer in community health efforts. A man of deep faith and prayer, Tom served on the boards of several churches throughout his life.

In his spare time, Tom loved golfing—especially in retirement, when he and his friends changed the game and began searching for lost balls instead.

He will be remembered as a kind, gentle soul with a quiet, dry wit that brought peace and warmth to those around him. His presence will be deeply missed by his large and loving family.
Tom was preceded in death by his parents; his brothers, Gordon and Robert Brooks; his beloved wife, Alice; and his firstborn son, Steve, who was lost in a commercial fishing accident en route to Alaska in 1997—an event that marked the deepest sorrow of Tom’s life.

He is survived by his son Robert Brooks (Deb), daughters Marilyn Bourne (Tom) and Marianne Ellis (Eric), and ten grandchildren: Christian Brooks, Stephanie Brooks, Brent Brooks, Samuel Brooks, Hannah Safoaune, Audrey Bourne, Thomas Bourne, Chelsea Shipp, Gillian Ellis, and Meredith Thomas. He was also blessed with 15 great-grandchildren: Lily, Elijah, Felicity, Clementine, Marigold, Elisabeth, Stephen, Moses, Ingeborg, Penelope, Peregrine, Montgomery, Anders, Meadow and Solveig—each of whom he loved dearly.

Visitation will be held on Friday June 27, 2025 from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.at Evans Funeral Chapel in Anacortes. A graveside service with military honors will be held at Grandview Cemetery at 10:00 a.m. on June 28. The memorial service will be held on June 28, 2025, 11:00 a.m. at First Baptist Church in Anacortes.