BETHESDA, MD. and SOUTHWEST HABOR — Brooks Johnstone Saltsman of Bethesda, Md., and Southwest Harbor died peacefully in Bethesda on March 18, 2016. She was 94. She was predeceased by her husband, James A. Saltsman Jr., who died in 2004. Brooks was born on Aug. 27, 1921, and grew up in Keokuk, Iowa. The Johnstones were a prominent family in Keokuk; her father was the president of Keokuk Savings Bank, which was organized in 1868 by her grandfather, who also helped to write the constitution for Iowa when it became a state. When Brooks was 12, she moved to live with her mother and step-father in Cincinnati, Ohio. On the brink of World War II, she enrolled in Connecticut College for Women as a member of the Class of 1943. During her college years, she developed a love of art history and pursued her own interest in watercolor painting and pastel portraits. While living in Cincinnati, she met James Saltsman, a lieutenant in the U.S. Army Air Force, whom she married in November 1944. They later moved to the suburbs of Washington, D.C. Brooks’s marriage to Jim also married her to Southwest Harbor. Jim’s connection to Southwest Harbor began at an early age when his uncle, Dr. William Earl Clark, who maintained a summer home on Kinfolk Lane in Southwest Harbor, brought him to Maine. Dr. Clark was an active sailor with the Northeast Harbor Fleet. Jim’s love of Maine continued, and he brought his wife and children to Southwest Harbor almost every summer. When they were not staying on Kinfolk Lane, the family rented a variety of cottages along the shore, until 1979 when they purchased a cottage on Norwood Cove, at the end of South Causeway Lane. In addition to being a regular on the committee boat of the Southwest Harbor Fleet, Brooks was an active member of the Causeway Club, at one time serving as the chair of the membership committee, among other activities. At the time of her death, she was a Lifetime Charter Member of the Causeway Club. At home in Maryland, Brooks pursued a lifelong career in volunteer service. By the time she “retired” in 2011, she had been a volunteer at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda for over 60 years and had served on the Board of Trustees of the hospital for over 20 years, including terms as the secretary, assistant treasurer, and second vice president of the board. In 1999, she was elected a trustee of the Suburban Hospital Foundation. In addition, Brooks was a volunteer with the Junior League for over 50 years. Brooks is survived by her son, Richard Saltsman, and his wife, Leslie; her daughter, Anne Legg; by her grandchildren, James Saltsman, Michael Saltsman, Benjamin Legg (Leigh), and Katherine Legg; and by her great-grandson, Kellan Brooks Legg. She is also survived by her half-brother, Edward K. Johnstone Jr. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests a contribution to Southwest Harbor-Tremont Ambulance, P.O. Box 437, Southwest Harbor, ME 04679.