Long time Hermosa Beach resident and waterman Thomas “Tommy” Brookes has passed away at the age of 74 from lymphoma.
A celebration of Tom Brookes life is scheduled for Friday, November 20 at 11 a.m. in front of the Tim Kelly Lifeguard Memorial Statue at the Hermosa Beach Pier. The gathering place was chosen because Brookes served as a groom at Kelly’s wedding and Kelly was Brookes’ best man. A paddle out and burial at sea is planned for the following morning at 22nd Street in Hermosa Beach.
Born in Los Angeles, Brookes was the oldest son of Cyril and Adelle Brookes. He spent his early years on Catalina Island before his family moved to Hermosa Beach in the late 1940s. His father once said, “It was all over once Tommy had sand between his toes.”
Brookes became an avid surfer and was a member of the 22nd Street “Double Deuce Danglers,” whose members included surfing legends Dewey Weber, Henry Ford and Kelly. Brookes was an All State CIF wrestler at Mira Costa High School. During this period, fellow surfer Richard “Fox” Mobley gave him the nickname “Baron,” after a famous television wrestler.
Brooke’s love for the ocean led him to pursue both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Marine Biology from California State University, Long Beach. His master’s thesis was titled “The Occurrence, Distribution and Diet of Some Marine Euphausiid Crustaceans in the North Pacific.” He spent much of his time scuba diving and venturing to places like Marineland of the Pacific as part of his research. During his college years, Brooke taught fifth grade elementary school in Los Angeles and worked summers as a casual longshoreman in Long Beach.
He also worked as an electrician at his dad’s Brookes Electric Company in Hermosa Beach. He subsequently became an electrical contractor and started his own electrical business.
In the 1980s, Brookes played tennis at the Manhattan Country Club and coached AYSO soccer and Little League baseball at Premier Field in Manhattan Beach. He also took up sailing, which became his passion during the latter years of his life. He raced his sailboat “Adelle” off both the west and east coasts and sailed countless times to Catalina Island with family from his slip in the Portofino, King Harbor Marina.
Brookes is survived by his two younger brothers George and Jim; his two daughters Lara and Hannah; his son Matthew; his grandson Harrison; and his long-time girlfriend Gloria. ER
