Susan Van Roekel Brooks

Services for Susan Van Roekel Brooks, 41, of Spirit Lake, will be 11:00 am, Saturday, September 24, 2016, at Good News Community Church in Okoboji. Visitation will begin one hour prior to the service at the church. Interment will be at Lakeview Gardens Cemetery in Spirit Lake. Susan Jean VanRoekel Brooks was born October 11, 1974 in Cherokee, Iowa the daughter of Dave and Carol VanRoekel. She graduated from high school in Evansville, Indiana and attended beauty school. She soon discovered that this was not the career path she wished to pursue and went back to school to receive her Associate's Degree. Susan was employed at the Parent Partner Program and loved helping parents who had struggled with addictions earn the right to regain custody of their children. When this program lost funding, she worked at various jobs including being a telemarketer, teaching her parents to be patient with the numerous telemarketers that had their phone number. Her most recent employment was at the Koffee Kup Restaurant. She shared many stories about her favorite customers and the employees with whom she worked. Susan was baptized into the Christian faith and always knew God was Good, even when she struggled in life. She loved outdoor activities, drawing, painting and any craft. Her creativity was a bonus, including giving her fun ways to keep her away from housecleaning. Susan's greatest love was her children, Nathan, Sarah and Matthew, and her grandchild, Bryson. She brought them closer together with her fun loving spirit and taught her children the gift of a great sense of humor. Susan passed away September 20, 2016 at Avera McKennan Hospital in Sioux Falls, South Dakota at the age of forty-one. She is survived by her children, Nathan (Kristina) Brooks, Sarah and Matthew Brooks; grandson, Bryson Brooks; parents, Dave and Carol VanRoekel; brother, Steve (Carrie) VanRoekel and their children, Katie, Ellie and Sylvia, and many other relatives and friends. She was preceded in death by her brother, Scott, and her grandparents.