Julia Brooks

Julia Beatrice Brooks (Hargrove) was born in Manson, North Carolina December 13, 1941 to George Lee Hargrove and Julia Russell Hargrove. She grew up in a loving Christian home as one of ten siblings, and the family faithfully attended Burchette Chapel United Church in Manson. As a child she loved playing practical jokes on her older siblings and playing games with the younger ones. She was an outstanding student over the years who was very involved in many school activities. 

She graduated from North Warren High School in Wise, NC in 1960 and relocated to Massachusetts a few months later, living with her uncle and cousins in Woburn before settling into Boston. In Boston she began working at a local hospital, and developed an interest in becoming a nurse out of her love for taking care of people and making them feel better. She would later graduate from nursing school and pursue a decades-long healthcare career specializing in elder care. 

She met George Brooks in 1961, and the two were married for 46 years prior to his passing in 2009. Out of that union was born Valerie Brooks, and the couple raised a blended family with Julia's young daughter, Carla. Julia also loved her bonus children from the marriage very much and played an instrumental part in helping raise them. Her baby sister Naomi joined her in Boston in 1966, and the two became almost inseparable. 

After attending church at Emmanuel Temple in the South End for some time, she rededicated her life to the Lord at First Church of God on Easter of 1977, where she met a young, fiery pastor named Gilbert A. Thompson. In 1982, Pastor Thompson started New Covenant Christian Center, and Julia, along with her sister Naomi, became charter members of that ministry. She deeply loved her church and church family. It blessed her to serve wholeheartedly, and she was faithful to that Call. She loved studying the Word of God, which prompted her to attend Bethel Bible Institute of Boston. After completing her studies at Bethel she earned her pastoral certification.

Julia's evangelical spirit and sincere heart touched all who knew her. Friends and family often confided in her and asked for prayer and advice. She loved to pray and became known as a prayer warrior, not only at church but also in her community. One of her favorite things to do was to visit and pray for the elderly with the Ministers of Care ministry at Jubilee Christian Church, of which she was a member up until her death. 

Julia was preceded in death by her parents; her siblings Claudette Hargrove, Mattie Lee Vaughan, Mary Lula Hargrove and Lucy Juanita Hargrove; her husband, George, and her daughter Carla Brooks. She leaves to mourn her sisters Dorothy Vaughan and Naomi Robertson; her brothers Gamaliel Hargrove, John Hargrove (Geraldine) and George Hargrove II; her daughter, Valerie Brooks; her grandchildren Charita Parham, Rajon Brooks, Preston Powell, Brandon Powell, and Alanni Powell; her great-granddaughter Rhema Madison Brooks; her bonus children George Brooks III, Rodney Brooks, Mark Brooks, Jean Brooks and Bruce Watson (Nancy) and bonus grandchildren; her special cousin, Rose Glasford; and a host of beloved nieces and nephews, cousins, close friends and church family. 

Her loving heart and love for Christ showed in everything she did, and she will be greatly missed.