Obituary of Rebecca Brooke Winslett

Brooke Winslett Brooke Winslett, a UTC student, passed away in Athens, Greece, on Saturday, June 18, during a trip to Rome and Greece. Rebecca Brooke Winslett was born on March 28, 1981. She was preceded in death by her grandfathers, Gene Winslett and William R. 'Bob' Griffith. She is survived by her parents, Joe and Belinda Griffith Winslett; sister, Ali Jo, brother, Joey; grandmother, Rebecca 'Betty Jo' Boyd Griffith; all of Chattanooga; and grandmother, Dot Winslett of Hueytown, Alabama. She is also survived by uncles Wendell McQuirk of Murfreesboro; Tim Winslett of Bristol, Virginia; and Shane Winslett of Hueytown; and aunts, Cynthia Garcia of Whiteside, Tennessee; Sharon Prayter of Hueytown; Barbara Griffith Moffett of Fort Worth, TX and Tracy Griffith Longobardi of Chattanooga; and a host of cousins and friends who drew inspiration from her life and joy from her presence. Brooke was a lifelong learner and an avid student of history, literature and genealogy. She was knowledgeable about British royalty, World War II and the impact of the Holocaust. She had an encyclopedic knowledge of her family's 250-year history as pioneers in Tennessee, Alabama and Virginia. With family and friends, she traveled to the Badlands of South Dakota and to the Caribbean. Last year she toured the British Isles and even kissed the Blarney Stone. She had anticipated this trip with the greatest of joy and, upon arriving in Rome, said she finally understood why author Augusta Evans compared the view from Lookout Mountain to the view from the hills of Rome. She was a tireless advocate for the 'handicapable' and counted as the highlights of her life her work as a docent and student speaker during a 2007 exhibit on the Holocaust and her meetings with Academy Award winning actress Marlee Matlin and reality TV star Amy Roloff and others who spoke up for human rights. Brooke attended Soddy-Daisy High School, where she won the Trojan Award for her determination to succeed, and Chattanooga State, before transferring to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. She loved UTC with an intensity and devotion, calling it her 'true home.' She was proud to be a student there and felt she had accomplished one of her life's goals by becoming a UTC student. Funeral services will be held at 1:00 P.M. on Monday, June 27, 2011 at Dallas Bay Baptist Church, 8305 Daisy Dallas Road Hixson, TN 37343. The family will receive friends from 2-8 P.M. on Sunday and from 10: 00 A.M. until 12:30 P.M. on Monday at Legacy Funeral Home and Cremation Center .Interment will be at 4:00 P.M. on Monday in Riceville Cemetery in Riceville, TN. Arrangements are by Legacy Funeral Home and Cremation Center, 8911 Dallas Hollow Road, Soddy-Daisy, TN 37379. Share your memories, stories and photos at www.legacyfuneralhome.com.