Sep. 7—TUPELO — Tommy Brooks, who was a successful gas and oil distributor for more than 50 years, has died.
Brooks, 87, left his job as personnel manager at Penn Tire in 1966 and established what would become Tommy Brooks Oil.
"I just happened to hear an opportunity with Texaco, and after about six months of negotiation, it became available and I was fortunate enough to get it," he said in a 2017 interview marking his 50th year in business.
Brooks became a distributor, or what Texaco in those days called a consignee, and later became a jobber. Brooks Oil company quickly expanded and today services dozens of stores across Northeast Mississippi.
Brooks served in the Mississippi Legislature for more than a decade. He was elected the state House of Representatives 1971 and was reelected four times. His final term was 1988.
Lyn Brooks Taylor, Brooks' oldest daughter, said during the time her father served in the House, a state senator from Carthage, also named Tommy Brooks, was arrested in 1985. That Brooks was the pro temp of the Mississippi Senate and was caught accepting $50,000 to influence senators to vote for a bill allowing horse racing and pari-mutuel betting in the state.
Taylor said her family had to do a lot of explaining to friends and others.
"It really confused people, and somebody in Itawamba County said, 'Boy, that Tommy Brooks is smart, telling everybody he's from Carthage,'" she said.
Brooks' youngest daughter, Lee Brooks Murphree, described her father as a loving family man and a proud Tupeloan. She said it would be difficult to find someone who knew Tommy Brooks who didn't like the man.
"He loved his community and truly cared about his family, friends and the success of our city," Murphree said. "He will be missed by all."
She includes herself, of course.
"I was fortunate enough to see him almost daily," she said. "For that, I am extremely grateful."
Both daughters said their father should be remembered not only for his business acumen but his desire to give back to the community.
"My father did so much as a young man, going to South Carolina for a while after graduation from Mississippi State, and then came back to work at Penn Tire," she said.
Brooks was named one of the Jaycees' Outstanding Young Men, among other honors. In his time in the Legislature, he helped create the state's retirement system.
"He was extremely conservative, even though he was a Democrat, and they always gave him a hard time because he wouldn't allow a legislative pay raise to go through," Taylor said. "He believed in taking care of the people, and as long as there were state employees applying for food stamps, he felt like it was their duty to devote their time and not try to worry about getting reimbursed for it."