Mrs. Juanita Taylor Brooks, affectionately known as Grandma Brooks, Mother Brooks, and Auntie, began her legacy when she was born to the proud parents, Mr. Thomas and Janie Myricks Taylor, on July 25, 1928, in Ramer, Alabama.

Mrs. Brooks attended public school in Ramer before matriculating at Southern Normal in Brewton, Alabama. She is a graduate of Hooper City High School. After completing high school, she pursued further education and graduated from Wenonah Technical College (now Lawson State Community College), earning her license as a practical nurse. Working in various hospitals within the Jefferson County area and eventually retired from her beloved Veterans Administration Hospital. Throughout her career, her calming presence brought comfort to everyone she encountered. She knew at a young age after taking care of her mother before her passing that this was her God given gift and she used it well. She was a loving and reassuring figure, serving as the pillar and caregiver of the family. She often expressed her gratitude to God for being able to care for all her siblings and anyone who needed her during their times of need, from emergency room visits to sitting bedside in hospital  lobbies, making certain the nurses did their job properly according to Grandma Brooks high standard was always a must.

A legacy of faith she grew up in a loving home, surrounded by the spirit of God. This nurturing environment inspired her to confess her faith in Christ at an early age at the Galilee Baptist Church in Ramer, Alabama. After moving to Birmingham, she joined Forty-sixth Street Baptist
Church and later St. James Baptist Church. She loved St, James and she served diligently and faithfully on the Deaconess board, in Vacation Bible School, and with the Nurses Guild, she was on the intercessory prayer team, and senior ministry. She was a member of the Order of Eastern Star Howard Beauty Chapter and the Nurses Organization of Veterans Affairs. She was also a civil rights advocate who walked in the civil rights marches in Birmingham, Alabama. She fondly would talk about those years and how important it is to stand up for justice and equality.
Her stories inspired many in our family members to continue education and the fight for civil rights and to ensure that the struggles of the past would not be forgotten.

Mrs. Books was united in holy matrimony to Mr. Cleveland Byars, and in this union, one son, Theopholis, was born. She later married Mr. James Brooks, and in this union she was blessed to become Mother Juanita and Grandma Brooks to the entire Brooks family.

On Tuesday, September 23, 2025, the gates of heaven opened and welcomed a good and faithful servant home. She was preceded in death by her parents, her brothers Sanders, Richard, and David Taylor, and her sisters Eliza Boyd, Emma Terry, and Naomi Daniels.

She leaves to cherish her memory and legacy: Theia Byars of Huntsville, Alabama; Themetria Byars, who resides in Baltimore, Maryland; her great-grandson, Theopholis Gibson-Byars; her daughter-in-love, Tommie Scott Byars; and the Brooks, Boyd, Daniels, and Taylor families.