John Brooks Tenney, Jr.

John Brooks Tenney, Jr.

July 27, 1933 - February 17, 2020

John Brooks Tenney, Jr., 86, resident of Williamson, New York, a U.S. Army Veteran, author, and aerospace engineer, passed away on Monday, February 17, 2020, at his childhood home in Norfolk, Virginia.

Born on July 27, 1933, in Portsmouth, Virginia, he was the son of the late Frances Powers Tenney and John Brooks Tenney Sr.  Brooks spent his childhood on the Chesapeake Bay in the Ocean View neighborhood of Norfolk, Va.  After graduating from Granby High School in 1951 he enlisted in the U.S. Army where he attended Engineer Officer Candidate School in Fort Belvoir, Va. after which he was qualified for the Castles on his collar.  He met Hope Carroll (Stockton) Tenney, in Norfolk, VA, and they were married 1952 until her death in 2017.  After returning from Korea, Brooks attended the College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA. and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA. where he received his Bachelor of Engineering degree. He earned his postgraduate Master of Engineering from Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA. 

Brooks was employed by Chance Vought Aircraft, Arlington, TX; General Electric, Philadelphia PA. and Xerox Corporation, Rochester, NY. 

He worked on satellites, under water habitats, and nuclear power systems for space. Throughout his life he authored and published several books and wrote hundreds of magazine articles. His poems were often published in the Williamson Sun & Record. He liked to paint, play ukulele and classical guitar. He was a member of the Pultneyville players and was a volunteer paramedic in Williamson. Brooks loved to travel, especially with his wife of 65 years who enjoyed their trips throughout the U.S.A. and Europe. He had seen the Great Wall of China and sailed around Cape Horn. Brooks, in his own words, lived a charmed life.

Besides his parents and his wife, Brooks is predeceased by his sons, John Brooks Tenney III, William Matthew Tenney and his brother Linwood.  He leaves behind a family who will miss him dearly: his sons, Stanley,

of Norfolk, VA, and Andrew of New York, grandson, Louis Remington (Jennifer) Tenney of Mississippi; granddaughter, Alexandra Brie Tenney of Alabama; and five great grandchildren, James, Rain, Amy, River, and Laura, and his special cat, Greyson.  He will be greatly missed by all who knew him.

A celebration of Brooks’ life will be held at a later date determined by the family.

Online condolences can be expressed at www.youngfuneralhomeny.com

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