Hall of Fame: Gil Brookings (Newport Harbor)

Richard Dunn

It should come as no surprise that former Newport Harbor High track

man and student body president Gil Brookings became a flying officer in

World War II for the U.S. Army Air Corps.

Brookings (Class of 1936), who became an attorney, served four years

of active duty in the South Pacific and later as judge advocate general

at March Air Force Base.

It was in track and field, however, where Brookings first earned his

wings. His specialty was the high hurdles, and, as a Harbor senior in

1936, he captured the Southern California Class B championship in the

120-yard high hurdles.

“They were using the college standard height (of 20 inches) when I did

the hurdles,” Brookings said. “It’s been reduced three inches now for the

high schools.”

Brookings, classmates at Harbor with Al Irwin, said Coach Ralph Reed

insisted he stay on the Bee track team.

After graduating from Newport Harbor, Brookings attended UCLA, where

he earned his bachelor’s degree in 1941, before joining the service.

Brookings, who stopped flying after WWII, opened his own law practice

in 1953 and enjoyed a successful career as a lawyer for 33 years. “I

retired on Jan. 1, 1987,” Brookings said.

Brookings, who grew up in Newport Beach, returned to his roots to

live, after he built a house in Corona del Mar that was completed in

1980. His law practice at the time was still in Pomona.

Now a resident of Hemet, Brookings, 83, said he traveled a lot during

the early years of his retirement, but lately it has been rather

“uneventful,” except for a massive stroke he suffered last year which has

confined him to a walker.

Brookings, the latest honoree in the Daily Pilot Sports Hall of Fame,

and his wife, Dolores, have four children (Diantha, Gail, Cathy and Gary)

and 10 grandchildren.