Patterson Cemetery District, Stanislaus County, CA 

Submitted by Gale Stroud and Burta Herger 26 Aug 2007

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Brooks William G 760205 p1
Youth Killed In Canyon Accident; Funeral services were held here Tuesday for William Gregory Brooks, 20, who was
killed in Del Puerto Canyon late Sunday when the four-wheel-drive vehicle in which he was riding went out of control
and tumbled down a steep hillside, crushing him beneath it. The driver of the vehicle, Donald Westbrook Jr. of Vernalis,
and passengers Joe Walker of Patterson and Ted Ewalt of Modesto escaped injury when they jumped or were thrown
from the vehicle. Westbrook told California Highway Patrol officers the jeep jumped out of gear when the four were
returning down a steep incline about four miles into the canyon from Interstate Highway 5. Braking did no good in the
dry loose dirt, and the car slid sideways add rolled over. CHP officers said the vehicle was equipped with a single roll-bar
behind the drivers seat and had no seat belts. Funeral services for Brooks were held at the Evangelical Covenant Church.
Interment was in Patterson District Cemetery. A native of Anaheim, Brooks had lived in Patterson since 1962. He was a
graduate of Patterson High School where he was active in FFA. He is survived by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Wayne
Brooks and five brothers, Steve, Craig, Jay, Mark and Robert Brooks, all of Patterson; two grandmothers, Mrs. Ida
Moerman of Newport Beach and Mrs. Kathleen Brooks of Patterson; and an aunt Emmy Lou Schroeder, also of
Patterson. The family requests that remembrances go to the Evangelical Covenant Church memorial fund where they will
be channeled to serve the youth ministry of the community through the United Church programs.