Decades after his death, Judy’s father, Jack Brooke (1907–1992), remains widely known today in yachting circles due to his hobby as an amateur yacht designer.
After obtaining an engineering degree, Jack taught for over a decade at the Sneddon Memorial Technical College. While there, he married Elsie (nee Hunt) in 1936, and the couple had three children: Don in 1937, Robert in 1940, and Judy in 1944.
A member of the Territorials during WWII, Jack was seconded to the Department of Scientific & Industrial Research (DSIR) and spent the war in Wellington, mainly designing systems to make .303 ammunition more reliable. He was awarded an OBE for this work in 1948.
After the war the family relocated back to Auckland, settling in Narrow Neck on Auckland’s North Shore, just up from the – yep, you guessed it – Narrow Neck Beach.
“We were very lucky and spoilt because we lived in Grandad’s old house [Ernest Brooke] at 7 Old Lake Rd, just across the road from Narrow Neck Beach, so we had that as our playground,” Judy recalls.
For non-Aucklanders, Narrow Neck Beach is a lovely sandy beach
