Costa Mesa : Peace Corps Member Honored in Washington

A Costa Mesa woman was among three Peace Corps volunteers honored Wednesday in Washington for outstanding work in the developing world.

At a White House ceremony attended by Vice President George Bush and his wife Barbara, Dorothy Brooks was recognized as one of the 1987 John F. Kennedy Volunteers of the Year.

Bush and his wife saluted the trio for their work, with the vice president saying they personified the kind of volunteerism that the Reagan Administration has urged over the years.

Brooks, 69, works as a dental hygienist in the Seychelles, an island chain in the Indian Ocean. She administers preventive dental care and conducts training and education at the main island’s only dental clinic.

Also honored were Anita Pauwels, 35, of Shattuck, Okla., a fisheries expert in the east African nation of Burundi, and Rex Rund, 26, of Pesotum, Ill., an agricultural extensionist and veterinary assistant in Haiti.