Gisela Dotzauer Brooks

Gisela Dotzauer (pronounced Dought-sour) Brooks, also known as "Gigi," 76, of Glasgow, Mont., passed away from cancer Thursday, July 23, 2015, during the "Hour of Mercy" in her Glasgow home. This is where she wanted to meet "The Most Merciful" GOD, with her daughter, Lura, by her side in her last hours.

She was the second youngest of three brothers and one sister. She was baptized Catholic. Their family name was Dotzauer. Her parents and their six children were refugees from Sudetenland (an area of Czechoslovakia) a country which was absorbed by the Czech Republic when they were invaded by the German Army at the beginning of World War II. Many people fled from that country as it was invaded by the Germans, and most ended up in West Germany. They were known as Volksdeutsch (immigrants), and later became naturalized German citizens. Gisela's family ended up in Kempten, Germany, in the Allgau (Al-gow) District in 1945. They were a poor and struggling family throughout their childhood.

She attended high school in Allgau until she was 17. She then moved to Munich, Germany, in 1957, to work for an American family as nursemaid. She met Leo Gentry in 1959, a young handsome soldier, and they were married. He was in the Army. She had her first son, James, in February of 1960. They were transferred to Gissen, (Gee-son) Germany, then back to the U.S., were she gave birth to her daughter, Lura, in Shreveport, La., in March of 1962.

She obtained her U.S. citizenship in 1965 and the family returned to Germany. After her divorce from Leo in 1972, Leo, the children and his new wife, Karin, also from Germany, came back to the U.S. Not many years passed and she longed for her kids, so later Gisela came to the U.S. to sunny California, but missing home terribly. And soon after living in California by herself, she met and later married William J. Brooks, an Air Force retiree, on March 19, 1988. They moved to Rialto, Calif., then Banning, Calif., and later settled to the peaceful hills of Glasgow in 2000.

She and William have many friends here who loved her dearly. This is and always will be Bill and Gigi's calling, here in beautiful Montana. Always remember her laugh, kindness and her beauty. She was so beautiful inside and out. Most importantly, know that she is no longer suffering or in pain, and is at Peace. She is with our Creator, whom she trusted and loved unconditionally.

Survivors include her loving husband, William J. Brooks; one sister, Brigitte, and her daughter; her youngest brother, Peter, all still living in Germany; two children, James and Lura; and three grandchildren, Whitney, 28, Aaron, 27, and Christopher, 21.

Visitation was Tuesday, Aug. 4, at Bell Mortuary in Glagsow, from 2–5 p.m. A celebration of life was also held Aug. 4, at 5 p.m. at the VFW Hall in Glasgow. Memorials can be made to Paralized Veterans of America, P.O. 921, Wilton, NH 03086-0921 or Disabled American Veterans, P.O. Box 14301, Cincinnati, Ohio 45250-0301.