A Havre de Grace Coach Will Be Remembered; Visitation On Congress Avenue Planned

HAVRE DE GRACE, MD — A funeral for Coach Johnny Brooks is planned for this weekend. The Havre de Grace High School fixture was 56.

At a recent Warriors game, the team displayed his No. 12 jersey on the sidelines in tribute to the former player and coach who lost his battle with cancer, according to Council President David Glenn.

Brooks was not only a coach at Havre de Grace High School. He had also been a quarterback, leading the Warriors to a state championship in 1981.

Upon returning to the city after college, he proved to be a "great teacher, mentor, coach and special friend to many of us," Glenn said at the Oct. 4 Havre de Grace City Council meeting.

"He truly touched the lives of all he came in contact with," Glenn said. "He will be sorely missed, and his candle burned out long before his memory ever will."

Brooks passed away Sept. 22, according to the Baltimore Sun.

He taught social studies and African American studies and coached football and basketball at Havre de Grace, according to the Baltimore Sun, which reported his classroom was "the place to be, the hub of the school."

Councilman Curtis Beulah extended sympathies to the Brooks family at the County Council meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 5, and many of those whose lives he touched shared their condolences on his memorial page.

"I always looked-up at him as one of the best Havre de Grace Warriors to ever put on a uniform!" one person posted.

Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 8, at the former Havre de Grace High School gymnasium, 700 Congress Ave. Attendees are asked to wear masks at the request of the family.

To limit the spread of the coronavirus, attendance will be limited at the funeral service, which will be live-streamed at noon on Saturday, Oct. 9. People can watch on the Lisa Scott Funeral Home.