Community Corner

GOP Women's Group Offers $1,000 Scholarship

Scholarship named for Dolores Brooks, an active member of New Providence Republican Women

If Dolores Brooks wasn't talking about her expanding family, she was talking politics. 

And if she wasn't talking about her family or politics, she still found something to talk about.

"She once told me, this was before she was diagnosed with brain cancer, she wanted to die talking on her cell phone going over a cliff in her old, white Cadillac," said Terry Sommese, Brooks' niece. "She liked to talk."

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Energetic and outgoing until a brain tumor cut her life short, 78-year-old Brooks brought her passion for a more conservative political landscape to the New Providence Republican Women as a dedicated member.

After she died in August 2010, her husband and four children — and also survived by 14 grandchildren — decided their beloved wife and mother would appreciate contributions be made to NPRW in lieu of flowers. 

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The gesture came as a surprise to NPRW, who received enough money to consider doing something to help Brooks' legacy live on through the next generation of political activists. They established the Dolores Brooks Scholarship to be awarded to a female student in the Oakton-Vienna area who has demonstrated a commitment to community service, politics, or public affairs. Brooks was a longtime resident of Miller Heights in Oakton, where her husband still resides.

"I think she'd be very happy to see somebody who was a good student and interested in political affairs receive that scholarship money," said Sommese, an NPRW member who serves on the scholarship committee. "She was very much an advocate for young people and education."

Though perhaps there may have been one other place to give the money: "She might also have chosen to put all the money toward getting Obama out of office," Sommese laughed. "She was not a fan of the president."

Last year, Allison Brouckman received the scholarship to help with her Dartmouth University education. Brouckman, of Oakton, graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. Students from TJHSST, Flint Hill School, Oakcrest School or Oakton, Madison, Marshall, Chantilly, Paul VI Catholic and Bishop O'Connell high schools are eligible for the scholarship.

This year, the Dolores Brooks Scholarship recipient will be awarded $1,000, payable to the student's chosen school to help with the first semester's tuition.

Click here for more information or to download the application. The application deadline is May 15. 


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