William “Bill” J. Brooks

A native of Boston, William “Bill” J. Brooks had a career path that started with a vocation as a Catholic priest and evolved into a love of public service and the mission of local broadcasting.

As a young adult, Brooks became a priest in the Washington D.C. area and was transferred to the West Palm Beach community. He married the Martha "Muffy" Finnigan, a former nun, in 1972. After leaving the priesthood, he worked with a local suicide-prevention hotline and was featured on numerous occasions on WPTV’s public service talk shows.

WPTV hired Brooks as their Public Service Director in 1975. He was promoted to Assistant General Manager in 1979 and then named General Manager in 1981.

Brooks was the Vice President & General Manager of WPTV for 17 years and in that time, he strengthened the station’s number one position in the market while at the same time growing the station’s community service efforts exponentially.

Food drives, telethons, public service campaigns and active board participation -were pillars of his tenure at WPTV. He worked tirelessly to advance the station in the minds and hearts of the viewers and to fulfill the station’s directive to be a good steward of the airwaves and a good servant to the community.

Brooks served as a past president of the FAB and ended his broadcast career as Vice President of Government Relation for Scripps Howard Broadcasting. In retirement he worked closely with the FAB on behalf of local broadcasters across the state.

Brooks passed in 2010 at the age of 76 following a two-year battle with lymphoma. His friends and family still speak of him as that colorful figure with a higher purpose.