Claude Otis Brooks, pastor emeritus of Vestavia Hills Baptist Church, died July 6. He was 91.
A native of Grayson, Ga., Brooks was a combat medic in the European Theater during World War II. After the war, he completed his college degree at Emory University in Atlanta, Ga.
He later received both a master of divinity degree and master of theology degree from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky. He also received an honorary doctorate from Samford University in Birmingham in 1987.
Brooks served as pastor of churches in Alabama, Kentucky and Georgia. He served as pastor of Vestavia Hills Baptist from 1969 to 1988.
After his retirement in 1988, he served as interim pastor of Kowloon Baptist Church in Hong Kong. He also served as Samford’s first Minister to the University; chaplain with Unity Hospice; several interim pastorates in Birmingham; and minister to senior adults at Vestavia Hills Baptist.
Brooks served for many years as a trustee of the Baptist Medical Centers board and wrote for both national Woman’s Missionary Union and Baptist World Alliance.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Olive, and his son, Mark. He is survived by two children and four grandchildren.
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