Thomas Roy Brooks, who went by Roy, was born on August 19, 1883 in Kentucky. He was the 3rd of 5 sons born to Nancy and Robert Brooks. The boys grew up on a farm in McLean County, helping their father with daily chores and also going to school. In 1902 Roy came down with Typhoid fever, he came close to death but after several weeks he was able to recover. Unfortunately his older brother Berkley would not be as lucky and in 1905 he succumbed to illness and died.
In May of 1909 Roy married the sister of Berkley's widow, miss Clara May Ray. The newlyweds settled in Beech Grove, Kentucky and quickly started their family. They had 2 boys and 3 girls, Orlin (1910), Thelma (1912), Mildred (1915), May (1919) and Roy (1925)
In 1920 they moved to Rumsey, KY and Roy worked as a blacksmith for a while before returning back to a life of farming. During this time it was also discovered that baby Roy had severe vision impairment and would eventually attend a school for the blind.
In 1930 Roy's father Robert, who at this point was a widow, became very ill. Roy's oldest remaining brother had moved to Indiana so the responsibility to take care of him fell on Roy. He moved his family into Robert's house and he and Clara cared for Robert until his death in 1931.
Near the end of 1932 Roy came down with pneumonia. He was 50 years old and while he was able to survive the pneumonia his heart had been weakened. On February 12, 1932 Roy passed away from his heart problems. He was survived by his wife, 5 children and 2 brothers.
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