by Douglas Reed Niermeyer, PCinC
Brooke Montgomery Lessig was born July 28, 1912, in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, the son of Joshua Brooke and Florence (nee Montgomery) Lessig. He attended The Hill School and Pennsylvania Military College (now Widener University).
Colonel Lessig was a decorated military veteran, having received the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star, the Presidential Citation, and the Philippine Liberation Medal with four combat stars for his U.S. Army service during World War II. He served as a staff officer under General Douglas MacArthur in the Southwest Pacific. He completed his military service in the United States Army Reserve. He served as Vice President of the Melbrooke Textile Company and Vanguard Air and Marine Corp., was an advisory board member of the Pennsylvania National Bank and Trust, and Secretary of the Citizens Bank and Trust Company of Pottstown.
He was elected a member of the Pennsylvania Commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States and was assigned Insignia #20412. He derived his Hereditary Companionship from his Great-Grandfather Colonel William Henry Lessig, Commander of the 96th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. The elder Lessig was a Companion of the First Class of the Pennsylvania Commandery (Insignia #489). Brooke served as Commander of the Pennsylvania Commandery, Commander-in-Chief of the Order from 1971 to 1973, and was President of the Civil War Library and Museum in Philadelphia.
Colonel Lessig had a long and distinguished record of civic service. He was chairman of the Montgomery County, Pennsylvania American Cancer Society and campaign chairman and board member of the American Cancer Society’s Philadelphia Division. He was a board member of the Child Mental Health Association of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania and Secretary of the Pottstown, Pennsylvania Memorial Medical Board.
He was also a board member of the Armed Services Branch of the YMCA, Philadelphia, and of the Salvation Army of Pottstown. He was a member of the Pennsylvania Society of the Sons of the Revolution and a member of the Color Guard; the Pennsylvania Sovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem; a board member of the Society of the War of 1812; the Colonial Society of Pennsylvania; the Military Order of World Wars; the Military Order of Foreign Wars; the Reserve Officers Association of the U.S.; the Navy League; the Society of the Sons of St. George; the Swedish Society of Pennsylvania; the Huguenot Society of Pennsylvania; the Valley Forge Historical Society; the Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Historical Society; the English-Speaking Union; and Benjamin Franklin Post #405 of the American Legion.
Colonel Lessig also was a life member of the Union League of Philadelphia; the Merion Cricket Club; the Bachelors Barge Club; the Penn Club; the African Safari Club; the British Officers Club; the National Gavel Club; the Racquet Club International; Brookside Country Club; and was Vice Commodore of the Moosehead Lake Yacht Club. He was a member of the First United Presbyterian Church of Pottstown.
He was married to Inge Moser in 1974 in England, she preceded him in death in 1978. Colonel Lessig died December 13, 1980, at his home in Pottstown, Pennsylvania. He was laid to rest in that city at Pottstown Cemetery. He had no children, and pursuant to his will, his estate was divided into four separate trusts to support charitable causes, all of which now have assets in excess of one million dollars.