John Brooks — major developer in Fremont, co- founder of Raiders
John Brooks, a real estate developer who helped found both the city of Fremont and the Oakland Raiders football team, died of heart failure in his sleep April 16 at his San Francisco home. He was 91.
Mr. Brooks was a man of many interests: He was an engineer, he built houses, had key roles in Democratic politics, and was a football executive who for years had a major stake in the Raiders. He also was a World War II veteran in both the merchant marine and the Navy. Later in life, he was appointed a rear admiral in the U. S. Maritime Service by President George W. Bush.
Mr. Brooks made a fortune in the real estate business, occasionally dined with presidents and still found time to serve meals to the homeless at St. Anthony Dining Room in San Francisco.
“He was very intelligent, a great man,” said his wife, Barbara. “He’s worth a book.”
Mr. Brooks was born in East Oakland in 1923. His father was a Navy engineer, and not long after high school, Mr. Brooks entered the U. S. Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, N. Y., in 1940, but went to sea right after basic training.
He returned to Kings Point to graduate in 1944, received a Navy commission, and at the age of 21 was assigned as chief engineer on the assault transport Allendale in the Pacific. Later in life, Mr. Brooks loved to tell stories of how as a young man he was able to run an engine room full of hard- bitten Navy men.
In 1945, he returned to the United States and married Barbara Matthews, who had been his sweetheart since middle school.
Mr. Brooks then graduated from law school, though he never practiced law. In his last year of law school, he took a real estate sales job and was quickly fascinated with the possibilities of being a developer.
A huge postwar boom was on, and Mr. Brooks and some partners founded a firm called Bresco, based in the East Bay. “He thought he could produce affordable housing in the Baby Boom era,” said Matt Brooks, his son.
At that time, Highway 17 was a two- lane road, and the small towns of Centerville, Mission San Jose, Irvington, Niles and Warm Springs were mostly farmland. The five towns were consolidated in the new city of Fremont in 1956.
Firms managed by Mr. Brooks built 1 out of every 4 homes in Fremont. He was instrumental in helping to found the new city, and he took out Fremont’s first building permit. He also built shopping centers, condominiums and apartment buildings.
His firm, later called Singer Housing Co., built more than 10,000 houses in six states over Mr. Brooks’ career.
He also became interested in professional football and, with fellow real estate developer Wayne Valley, founded the Oakland Raiders in 1960. The Raiders were not a success at first, but “football was really fun in those days,” Barbara Brooks remembered.
The management then hired Al Davis as coach and general manager, and Davis later bought an interest in the team. Mr. Brooks retained a 16.8 percent share in the Raiders until 1999.
Mr. Brooks was also active in politics, though he never ran for public office himself. He was a friend of Gov. Pat Brown, and when Brown’s son, Jerry, entered public life, Mr. Brooks was treasurer for his early campaigns.
“Jack Brooks was a doer and made an extraordinary impact on so many lives,” Jerry Brown said Wednesday. “As a builder, as a philanthropist and a supporter of good causes, he’s left a lasting mark. I’ll miss him.”
Mr. Brooks retired in 1976, but he never left business and public service entirely. He developed the billion- dollar Ardenwood Forest New Town in Fremont, with 1,800 homes on 850 acres, an area he called “a city within a city.”
He also served on the advisory board of the U. S. Merchant Marine Academy, and on the state Board of Pilot Commissioners in the Bay Area.
He is survived by his wife, Barbara, of San Francisco; sons William Matthews ( Matt) Brooks of San Francisco and John Brooks of San Diego; and three grandchildren.
A funeral was held Wednesday, and Mr. Brooks was interred at the Chapel of the Chimes in Hayward.