Rosie Lee Brookins, 76, cooked up special meals

Rosie Lee Dandy Brookins called it "food for the soul."

Those delicious meals she prepared for family, friends and her church contained one very special ingredient, according to her family.

It was love. All her meals were prepared with it as the spice that made them sing.

"She loved to entertain, and sitting down to one of her delicious meals was truly a joyous occasion, and everyone was invited at her table," her family said in an obituary.

But she could be tough. "If you were fortunate enough to receive a specialized cake or pie from Rosie," her family wrote, "you had to remember her rule about returning her plate to her kitchen - or else!"

Rosie Brookins, who spent her working life helping others as a nurse at various hospitals and nursing homes in the city, a dedicated churchwoman and devoted family matriarch, died Saturday. She was 76 and lived in West Philadelphia.

She was born in Ethel, W. Va., to John Dandy and Daisy Watkins. Her mother died when she was 6, and she was reared by Ernest and Rosa Higgins, who introduced her to the church.

In 1948, she married her high-school sweetheart, Clarence Brook-ins Jr. After they moved to Philadelphia, Rosie decided on a career in nursing and attended the Edward Bok and Jules E. Mastbaum vocational-technical schools, from which she graduated as a licensed practical nurse in 1956.

She worked at the old Philadelphia General Hospital, Riverview Nursing Home, Philadelphia Nursing Home and the Stephen Smith Nursing Home for the Aged.

"Due to her strong work ethic, compassion, and love of people, she earned the respect and admiration of the people she worked with and her patients," her family wrote. "She formed many lasting relationships and was a blessing to all who knew her."

She joined Christ of Calvary Church, in West Philadelphia, under the late Rev. Abner L. Fortson, in 1960. She sang in the Senior Choir, cooked for church events, and served as a nurse, deaconess, missionary and trustee.

"We will celebrate her life as a tribute to how she enriched our lives," her family wrote. "Her legacy gives us courage to challenge ourselves to be better people and touch the lives of others as deeply as she did."

Besides her husband, she is survived by four daughters, Brenda G. Headen, Gloria B. Washington, Yolanda Armstrong and Faith M. Brookins-Wise; a son, Clarence III; two sisters, Cecilia Fuller and Pearl Hall; two brothers, Collae and David Dandy; 13 grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.

Services: 5 p.m. Sunday at Christ of Calvary Church, 61st Street and Larchwood Avenue. *