Brooke ’61, George Alan

I left the Illini campus early in 1959 due to a lack of serious studies in 3 courses and too many activities and, in particular, house offices-ie. corresponding secretary and Intramural rep. I missed too many classes getting up teams, acting as a sophomore tennis manager and acting in "Oklahoma". After the U. of I, I went on to SIU-Carbondale, graduated in '61 with a B.A. in government, minoring in history and psychology. After a short stay with Social Security Admin., I was drafted by the Army but ended up joining the Naval Reserve and spending 2 years on board the USS Canberra, a guided-missile cruiser, with duties including the Cuban Blockade, the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean (steersman, radarman, chaplain's assistant, librarian, and yeoman 3rd class, without forgetting damage control communicator with the captain during offshore shelling of California islands in preparation for Vietnam action. After the Navy, having been a French translator/interpreter for our ship, I headed back to Europe to study languages and lived 3 months in London and went on to Paris, studying at La Sorbonne and working part-time for Martin-Marietta Aerospace as an office assistant. I met my French wife in Paris, where she was modeling and doing secretarial work. To make a long story short, with a Ph.D from LSU, I've taught 30 years of French and 8 years of Spanish, been married 51 years to my lovely wife and have lived in Kirkwood, MO since 1979. Please drop me a line by email. I'd enjoy hearing more of what's been going on in your life since those chapter days. Your Brother in the Phi, George Brooke