“A Chef’s Background”

A lifetime New Yorker, Brock was born and raised in Queens and grew up an only child to a father who worked for a time as a butcher and loved to hunt and fish (“I’ve eaten anything that runs around New York State”), and a mother who had great talent at making pastries, desserts, and salads. Her grandmother loved gardening and “grew all sorts of remarkable vegetables that have only come into popularity recently,” she said. “And I love the way she made yeast bread. She would pick up the bread and throw it on the seat of a chair. That’s the way she kneaded it!” Her grandmother preserved and pickled foods, and made cheese, jams, and jellies.

“So I had a chef’s background, when I think about it, that was quite amazing,” she said. And then, of course, she was a subway ride away from “fabulous department stores and wonderful museums.”

She majored in home economics at Queens College, graduating in 1944 with a bachelor’s degree. “I made it in three years because I wanted to get married,” she said. Her new husband and her mother both encouraged her to use her education. Brock didn’t, at first. “I thought you got married and stayed home,” she said. “But after going to a few Friday bridge games, I decided maybe they were right!”