February 10, 2022  |  News & Events, Sad News, Timely Announcements

Dear Colleagues,

I share with you sad news from the English Department in the College of Letters and Science. Brooke Barker, Department Services Associate, passed away peacefully yesterday.

Brooke earned her BA, summa cum laude, and her MA from Marquette University. She went on to earn her PhD in Literature from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her JD, cum laude, from Marquette University Law School. Prior to joining UWM, Brooke worked with the Coalition of Wisconsin Aging Groups, Elder Law Center; served as a teaching assistant at both Marquette University and UNC, as well as a lecturer at Marquette; and spent 10 years as a research and marketing coordinator at Woodland Pattern Book Center.

Brooke loved literature, cats, and cat-related humor. She was well loved in the English Department and was very helpful to faculty, staff, and students. Her reliability and stabilizing influence were the anchor of the department, where she would get things done without noise or drama. Department Chair Lane Hall noted, “We will miss her wit and kindness and grieve her passing and our loss.”

Brooke will be cremated, and her ashes spread over family land. In accordance with her wishes, no memorial service is planned. We share our condolences with Brooke’s family and the many others whose lives she touched.

Take care,
Johannes

Johannes Britz
Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs