Howard E. Brooks Howard E. Brooks passed away peacefully on Tuesday, 12 April 2016 at home in Mt. Laurel surrounded by his loving family. Born in Greeneville, TN he lived life to the fullest for 96 wonderful years. He was the beloved husband of 49 years to Silvia (Wasem) Brooks. He was a loving father of 2 sons, Eugene and Jonathan Brooks. He also adored his daughter-in-law, Lori Brooks and his three precious grandchildren, Alexis, Shelby and Zoe Brooks. He was preceded in death by his parents, W.C. and Bessie Brooks; and 9 older siblings. His one surviving sister Betty is still living in Greeneville, TN. He proudly served his country in the US Navy aboard the USS Houston (CA-30) during WWII. He was an EM3 (Electrician’s Mate 3 rd Class) aboard the ship when she was sunk during the Battle of Sunda Strait on 1 March 1942. Howard was then captured on Java by Imperial Japanese forces and became a prisoner of war 3½ years, held in various POW camps, including the work camps of “Branch 5” in Burma along the Burma-Thailand Railway. In April, 1944 the Japanese transported him to a POW work camp in Saigon, French Indo-China, where he was eventually liberated in September, 1945. His rank when he left the Navy was Chief Warrant Officer 4 (CH4). The Full Story is located at http://www.usshouston.org/ After Howard left the US Navy, he moved to Road Island where he completed 4 years of college for Electrical Engineering. He was a resident of Mt. Laurel for thirty five years. Howard was employed as an Electrical Engineer with Pirelli Cable Corporation in New York and Union, NJ where he retired from the company. Relatives and friends are invited to attend Howard’s viewing from 10-12 immediately followed by his life celebration on Tuesday the 19 th April at Mount Laurel Home for Funerals http://www.mountlaurelfuneralhome.com/ Howard will be laid to rest at the Brigadier General William C. Doyle Veterans Memorial Cemetery with full military honors. Website is http://www.nj.gov/military/cemetery/ In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to either the USS Houston at http://www.usshouston.org/  or to the grandchildren’s college fund which can be mailed to 142 Brentwood Drive, Mt. Laurel, NJ 08054.