Juanita Jones

Charlene (Mills) Brooks was born on April 29, 1954 in Tennessee to Charles Emanuel Mills and Area Luegirtha Tutwiler.

Charlene was educated in the Chicago Public School system where she graduated from Jones Commercial High School. She later attended Olive Harvey College in Chicago also.

Charlene married her best friend, Dorian A. Brooks in 1974. They were quite the pair. She loved sitting out doors, watching Andre do all the yard work. Charlene also enjoyed shopping at her favorite store, ”Wally World”. She liked reading, doing crossword puzzles and word searches. She also enjoyed watching game shows and Steph Curry of the Golden State Warriors. She was a good cook and loved preparing holiday meals of roast, greens and sweet potato pie. She also enjoyed a good steak or ribs. Charlene was loved by the community and her love of children was evidenced by them flocking to her house. She was considered the neighborhood mom, but don’t ask for nobody to spend the night! Charlene was very articulate and had no problem speaking her mind. When Charlene spoke, everyone would listen. During her “Me Time”, she loved to get her nails and hair done.

Charlene worked various places including McCann in Chicago, IL. She also worked at the Downtown YMCA and Burlington Coat Factory. She ultimately spent most of her life as a homemaker and wife, nurturing her “bums with thumbs”, as she sometimes called the kids. Charlene loved people and would always tell them, “I love you”.

Charlene Brooks professed her Christian faith and served the Lord as a founding member and Co-pastor of Kingdom Life Ministries International. along side her husband.

Charlene left us behind when she answered the Master’s call to rest, on January 20, 2023. She will be welcomed into heaven by her parents, Charles Emanuel and Luegirtha Mills; siblings, Beatrice Price, Joyce Blair, Annie Mills, Barbara Ross-Caldwell, Kenneth Spencer Williams Brooks and Joseph Caldwell; and a grandson, Darryn Brooks.

Left to carry her legacy is her husband, Dorian Andre D. Brooks; children, Daryl (Dina) Brooks, Deryke Brooks, Tiffaney Brooks, Nina Blakey, Tara Johnson, Pandora Clayborn and Antionette Bell. Her siblings, Fred Mills, Sylvia Ann Mills Rogers, Charles (Charleen) Mills, Milledge Albert