Fairfield (Official) 2001
Gordon had three passions in life – his family – his God – and Track and Field. He started running in the 9th grade and never stopped. A student said after his death, he had a wonderful race through life. He graduated from Iowa Teachers College (UNI) in 1951 and began coaching Track and Swimming at Boone High School in Boone, Iowa. After he received his Master Degree from Iowa State, he was named assistant principal at Fairfield High School in 1961 and became Principal in 1966. Brook as he was called, believed that public relations was very important for his school district and in this regard he served his community in many ways – Director of the Chamber of Commerce – Chairman of the Jefferson County Crime Stoppers – a very active member of his church, serving as Chairman of the board several times – chaired every committee in the church – taught Sunday School – sang in the choir. He loved and supported all the activities of his school. He was serving on the representative council of the Iowa High School Athletic Association and had for 10 years. He registered with the IHSAA in 1952 and worked many track meets in the old Iowa fieldhouse. His first outdoor State meet was in 1960. Since 1967 he started the State meet every year until his sudden death in 1981. The 1982 Boys State Meet was dedicated in his honor. At the Boys State Basketball Tournament in 1983, Brook was honored as a recipient of the Lyle T. Quinn award. The Fairfield Trojan Relays were re-named The Gordon Brookhart Relays following his death – several trophies were awarded to runners in his name at several Southeast Iowa Track meets – a scholarship fund was established in his name and $1,000.00 scholarships were awarded to four students. He definitely loved track along with his wife, as she would accompany him and watched him start hundreds of meets. The athletes, who he worked with, held him in high esteem as was shown by the many letters he received from various athletes over the years. When his family cleaned out his office at school they found a page from a magazine he has torn out and taped on the wall opposite his desk. It showed the back of a lone runner with a long road stretching ahead of him. The caption said “The race is not always to the swift – but to those who keep on running.” His wife made prints of this for their three grandchildren who were very young when Brook died. This is the legacy he would have given to them and is what he imparted to all those lives of the young people he touched.