Machelle Brooks “was just a natural with kids,” said Charmaine Lewis of Aurora, who worked with Brooks at Clayton Educare, 3751 Martin Luther King Blvd.
She and others will remember seeing Brooks pull toddlers around the care center in a little red wagon.
The staff members were shocked at the unexpected death on April 28 of Brooks, who was 49. Her husband, Donald Brooks, found her in bed. Cause of death hasn’t been determined, said their daughter, Keeonia Brooks of Denver.
Keeonia Brooks said she had talked to her mother the day before her death and she was fine.
Friends said Brooks never was in a bad mood. She could laugh at anything.
Just before her death, she had told her daughter of “something funny” that happened at work. It didn’t sound funny to her daughter. A child had vomited on Machelle Brooks. So Brooks took her clothes off at Clayton, put on her coat, went home, put on a different outfit and returned to work.
“She just laughed about it,” said Keeonia Brooks.
“Machelle was much beloved here,” said Charlotte Brantley, president and chief executive of Clayton.
Machelle Brooks, who was given to bright colors, and ribbons and flowers in her hair, “was a delightful person who will leave a legacy of her effervescent personality,” said Cathy McCarty, vice president at Clayton. “She was always sparkling and smiling. She made everyone feel important, no matter who they were.”
Brooks often called people “Lovebug,” “Beautiful,” “Gorgeous” or “Sweetheart” and frequently told people she loved them.
“She loved kids and would let them help her cook or do art work,” said her daughter.
“Her calling was babies,” said Andrea Clark of Aurora, who was a friend since the two were in junior high school.
“She thought all kids were angels and wanted to have her own day-care center.” She kept many angel figurines in her house.
Though she didn’t have her own center, “she got to take care of babies,” said Clark, adding that Brooks fawned over her own nine grandchildren.
“She taught me to always put your kids first,” said her daughter. “She said, ‘Your actions will be reflected in your kids.’ ”
Machelle Harris was born in Denver.
She graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School and got child-care education at Metropolitan State College of Denver.
She worked in sales before joining the staff of a day-care center at Ascension Episcopal Church. She joined the Clayton staff more than a year ago.
In addition to her husband and daughter, she is survived by her sons, Ronnie Brooks and Donald Brooks Jr., both of Denver; her mother, Emma Perron of Oklahoma; and her father, Charles Harris Sr. of Denver.
Virginia Culver: 303-954-1223 or vculver@denverpost.com
