Brook Torney, 77, Shawnee, KS, passed away Tuesday, January 4, 2022, at The University of Kansas Medical Center after a series of recent health battles.
Brook was born in Marshalltown, IA on March 22, 1944, and moved to Des Moines, IA when he was just six weeks old. He and his family then moved to Prairie Village, KS in 1956 where Brook attended Tomahawk Elementary School, then Milburn Junior High (where he met his love, Cherie, in the 8th grade), and then he attended and graduated Shawnee Mission East high school in 1962. Brook first attended the University of Kansas and then finished his college education at UMKC where he majored in Psychology and minored in Economics.
Brook married his junior high sweetheart, Cheryl (Slinker) Torney, on January 22, 1966, and they would’ve celebrated their 56th wedding anniversary this year. Together they share two children, Christopher Torney and Jill (Torney) Jensen, and have two grandchildren, Leigha and Ella Torney.
Brook retired from IBM after over 30 years of service as first, a senior systems analyst and asset manager and then as a senior I/T specialist. After 15 years with IBM, Brook pursued a sales position with Source One, technology talent acquisition with Source EDP, then he was hired on with Marion Laboratories and remained there through multiple mergers and acquisitions. It was only when Brook’s department at Marion changed their asset management vendor to IBM that Brook was then able to bridge his previous service with IBM into 8 more years and retired from IBM in 2008.
To know Brook is to know he was a social creature by nature, a huge animal lover, and he loved a good story…and a good laugh. Brook was a constant fixture at Truman Lake where he and Cherie shared a lake place starting in 1987 and until 2018. A place where he loved to spend time with family and friends, he would fish, work on the yard, “putz around,” and show up unannounced in his golf cart at the neighbors’ cabins for breakfast (they didn’t mind). If he wasn’t at the golf course – either playing a round or marshalling at Tomahawk in later years – then you could find him watching the Royals, Chiefs, or Kansas basketball games. In retirement, Brook also gave his time to volunteer with Meals on Wheels in addition to having lunch with his friends. He LOVED having lunches with friends. Brook was a real Mr. Fix-It and enjoyed tinkering and figuring out how things worked. He also built beautiful stained-glass pieces that are still enjoyed today and collected old tools and the occasional lawnmower. Brook owned a couple of Harley-Davidson motorcycles and enjoyed riding with his pals; even attending the wild Sturgis rallies quite a few times over the years.
Brook’s family is taking all safety precautions during this time of Covid and will be opting to forego traditional funeral services at this time. A Celebration of Life service will be held in Brook's honor on Tuesday, March 22 from 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm at the Tomahawk Hills Golf Course in the Elmridge Room. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in honor of Brook to Wayside Waifs or Great Plains ASPCA.