Lavona (Love) Iona Brooks (nee Cordes)
November 30, 1938 – January 16, 2026 (87 years old)
It is with heavy hearts that we announce the peaceful passing of our Mom, Grandma and Great Grandma Love on Friday, January 16th at the Rose Villa in Rosetown, Sask.
Love was the youngest of eight children born on Nov. 30, 1938 at Rosetown, Sask. to August and Anna Cordes. She was the last surviving family member of the Cordes family of that generation, marking the end of an era.
Love was raised on her parents’ grain and dairy farm surrounded by fields, livestock and a large apple orchard. She attended school in Rosetown and grew up in a home filled with music.
Music was Love’s lifelong passion. At just four years old, she began playing the piano by ear. Naturally gifted, she could not read a musical note but could sit down at the piano and play a song she heard on the radio. Over the years, she also learned to play the keyboard, organ and accordion and for more than 35 years she played in “The Brooks Orchestra”, travelling throughout southwestern Saskatchewan to perform at dances nearly every Friday and Saturday night. One of her greatest joys was sharing the stage with her children and husband but her greatest pride was knowing her love of music lived on through the grandchildren and great grandchildren who chose to learn instruments and sing. She also was a choir member of the Rosetown Fireside Group for a short time.
Mom married the love of her life and soulmate, Ronald Brooks, on October 12, 1956 and together they moved to the Brooks family farm, where they began farming and raised four children: Donna, Perry, Doug and Rhonda.
As a farmer’s wife, Mom had to learn very quickly how to cook. She often laughed and said that when she got married, the only thing she knew how to do was boil water. Over the years, however, she became an excellent cook and an exceptional baker. She was never afraid to try something new in her kitchen and baking soon became her second passion. She loved sharing her recipes with family and friends. You could never walk into her kitchen without being greeted by the aroma of freshly baked buns, cookies, pies, cakes, squares or a new dessert she wanted you to taste and you never left her kitchen table hungry.
She was also an avid gardener, growing a huge garden filled with fruits and vegetables. Her numerous freezers, refrigerators and cold room were packed with the fruits of her labor - frozen produce, shelves lined with canned preserves, containers filled with baking and Christmas tins bursting with her homemade chocolates and fudge. She was known for her infamous popcorn balls, twisters, Saskatoon pie, peppermint patties and turtles but the most sought-after treats by her children and grandchildren were her dill pickles, dried parsley and dill weed and strawberry/peach freezer jam. Her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren enjoyed those fruits of her labor immensely and you could never leave her house without a care package full of her “made with love” goodies.
Mom enjoyed entertaining and the farm home was a hub for daily coffee visits, family get-togethers and Sunday suppers. One of her favourite pastimes was simply “jammin’ to music” on Sunday mornings with her family. The annual New Year’s Day celebration with relatives was a cherished tradition on the Brooks farm for many years. Mom prepared her popular Chinese food while the Aunties would supply the salads and desserts feeding more than 60 family members and friends. It was a day filled with lots of activities, songs and dancing. Throughout the winter months, skidoo parties and hockey games on the regulation size rink in the yard were many and Mom was always the gracious host, serving her homemade hot chocolate and toast for dunkin’ for everyone.
Her winter hobbies over the years included ceramics, dough art, cake decorating, paper tole, and making homemade hand lotion and soap. She even tried her hand at making bottled wine, Kahlua, and vanilla, and was an avid reader of romance novels.
She was an active member of the Rhondda Community Club for many years producing Christmas concerts with the kids in the community, planning year-end school picnics, arranging community bridal showers and whist nights at Rhondda School, organizing the concession for the Rhondda Rockets fastball tournaments and decorating the Rhondda Community float for the Rosetown Jamboree parade for several years.
Mom and Dad moved to Lion’s Manor in Rosetown in the early nineties where they served as custodians of the senior’s complex for five years. In 1997, they moved to their new home on an acreage and retired from farming. During this time, Mom spent her days nurturing a new garden, baking and canning preserves while caring for Dad as his health declined. She also enjoyed working at the Rosetown Eagle Office once a week for a few years. Mom always looked forward to summer where she treasured time with family at their lake cabin. She loved playing Euchre into the wee hours of the morning, sipping her favourite drink, a “Silver Cloud” (made Terry style) and making s’mores and bush pies with her grandchildren around the campfire.
After Dad’s passing in 2010, Mom continued to live on their acreage until her health declined in the fall of 2024. An unfortunate fall at home made it clear that she could no longer live alone. She moved to Rose Villa in Rosetown in February 2025 where she resided until her passing.
Mom’s greatest joys in life were her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She cherished every moment with them, especially with her grandchildren-from hosting tea parties at her kitchen table and playing card games, to tinkling the ivories and singing songs, teaching them how to dance and welcoming them as her baker’s helpers in the kitchen.
She will be remembered for her music, her kindness and generosity, her laughter, and the way she brought people together. Her legacy lives on in the songs still played, the recipes still shared, and the family she loved deeply and unconditionally.
Love was predeceased by her loving husband, Ron; son-in-law, Terry Wickett; her parents, August and Anna Cordes; her parents-in-law, Walter and Hilda Brooks; her brothers and sisters-in-law, Bob and Jean Cordes, and August and Carol Cordes; her sisters and brothers-in-law, Irene and Les Cutler, Viola and Peter Macey, Verna (Sinclair/Huck) Lloyd Sinclair and Charlie Huck, Donalda (Chappell/Rahn) Don Chappell and Hank Rahn, and Kathy and Phil Miller; nephews Dale Cutler, Byron Cordes, Danny Cordes, and Barry Sinclair; niece Barbara Deitsch (Sinclair); and great-nephew Chase Cordes.
Mom will be lovingly remembered by her daughters, Donna Wickett and Rhonda (Duane) Brooks-Dys; her sons, Perry Brooks and Doug (Susan) Brooks; her grandchildren, Brad (Shannon) Wickett, Tyler (Laura) Wickett, Hailey (Tyler) Wynnyk, Samantha (Matt) Jones, Jenilee Brooks (Connor), Devon (Kelsey) Brooks, Kami Brooks, Devon Dys (Gheraldine), and Donovan Dys (Cindy); and her great-grandchildren, Addison and Hudson Wickett; Leonardo, Oscar, Maverick, Ophelia, and Estelle Wickett; Remy and Rory Wynnyk; Griffin Jones; Emree and Parker Jauck; and Mya and Skylar Brooks.
She is also remembered by several nieces and nephews, as well as her dearest friend and neighbour, Martha Gilchrist.
The family would like to sincerely thank all the staff at Rose Villa for their excellent care and attentiveness to Mom. We feel so fortunate to have such a compassionate and dedicated facility in the Rosetown community.
At Mom’s request, no funeral service will be held. A family gathering to celebrate her life will take place at a later date. Funeral arrangements entrusted to Shanidar Funeral Services.
In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Love may be directed to the Rose Villa at:
Saskatchewan Health Authority (Rose Villa - In memory of Lavona Brooks) Box 850, Rosetown, Sask. S0L 2V0
She Is Still Playing
Losing your mother
is losing the first song
you ever knew—
the one that taught your heart how to listen.
She grew up where fields met sky,
where chores were done by daylight
and music filled the house by night.
She didn’t know the notes to the song
but she knew the sound of joy.
Her hands learned the piano by ear,
and by listening closely enough
to let beauty find its way out.
Those same hands fed a family,
welcomed neighbours,
and turned ordinary days into gatherings.
Friday and Saturday nights carried her music
across halls and towns,
but her truest performances
were at home—children beside her,
love keeping time.
Now the house is quieter, but not empty.
Her song has scattered itself
into grandchildren’s fingers,
into voices learning melodies,
into the way love shows up
without being asked.
Grief comes like winter on the farm—
steady, unavoidable,
changing the landscape.
But she taught you this too:
after the silence, something always grows.
She is not gone.
She is in the music you remember,
the bread you bake, the cookies you make,
the way you gather.
She is the song that never ends--
only learned by heart.
Forever loved and sadly missed…your Family