Edward M. Brook

CANISTEO - Edward M. Brook, 82, of State Route 248, Canisteo entered into rest on March 8, 2000 following a long illness.

 He was born on Nov. 26, 1917, a son of Harold & Mary Whitwood Brook.  He was married to Elizabeth (Betty) Jane Nilson who died in 1982.  On June 3, 1984 he married Edith Mack Christiansen who survives.  He was preceded in death by two sisters, Miriam Whitman and Wilma Eicher.

 Ed lived most of his life in Hornell and was a graduate of Hornell High School, Class of 1936.  He attended Alfred University for two years and was a U.S. Army veteran having served from January 1943 until December 1945 with the 773rd Field Artillery Battalion in the battles of the Ardennes, Central Europe, Normandy, Northern France and the Rhineland.

 He was a member of the 773rd Field Artillery Reunion of which he had served as secretary for over 30 years.  Ed worked for many years at the Erie and Erie-Lackawanna railroad shops in Hornell.

 He was a member of the Morning Star Lodge 65 F & A.M. of Canisteo; the United Presbyterian Church of Hornell; the Canisteo American Legion; the J.J. Mooney V.F.W. Post of Hornell; Southern Tier Senior Citizens; the Almond Senior Citizens; and Almond Historical Society.  Music was a big part of Ed's life with singing and playing the piano for the joy of others at the Hornell Gardens Nursing Home, Masonic Lodge in Canisteo & Senior Citizens groups.

 Ed's family includes his wife, Edith; two step-daughters, Beth Moore of Canisteo and Dorothy Ryan of Bath; four nieces, Sue Lacy and Janice Raish of Hornell; Mary Walden of North Carolina and Nancy Whitman of Virginia; two nephews, Edward Eicher of Fillmore & Mark Eicher of Canisteo  Six step-grandchildren also survive including Lisa Sanford of Canisteo, several step-great grandchildren including Katharine Sanford of Canisteo.