Sweetie, Dub Nation’s biggest fan, dies at 107

Helen “Sweetie” Brooks at a Warriors game with Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf. Brooks was the basketball team’s oldest and most devoted fan. She died Thursday. Helen “Sweetie” Brooks at a Warriors game with Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf. Brooks was the basketball team’s oldest and most devoted fan. She died Thursday. Photo: Courtesy Of Lily Toney / / Courtesy Lily Toney Photo: Courtesy Of Lily Toney / / Courtesy Lily Toney Image 1 of / 37 Caption Close Sweetie, Dub Nation’s biggest fan, dies at 107 1 / 37 Back to Gallery

Sweetie, as she was affectionately known by strangers and family, was undoubtedly the oldest Golden State Warriors fan on the globe.

People recognized the Warriors-clad fanatic as she would often yell, “Don’t get messy now!” at Stephen Curry and his teammates while sitting on the sidelines at Oracle Arena.

The 107-year-old Warriors mega fan, who was born Helen Brooks, died in her sleep Thursday morning.

“Her story has been told in the Bay Area many times, but she was 107 years old, literally the oldest living Warriors fan,” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said as he opened his pregame news conference Thursday, offering condolences to Sweetie’s loved ones. “She took great joy in our team over the years, especially when we won the championship a couple years ago.”

Her adoration of the Warriors started nearly 20 years ago, before Dub Nation became famous, when Sweetie, then a spry 87-year-old, and her husband, Clifford, would attend games together, said their daughter, 77-year-old Lily Toney.

Sweetie’s favorite player was Draymond Green, who left the Warriors’ road trip in New York to return to the Bay Area for the birth of his son at 3:55 a.m. Thursday — 6½ hours before Sweetie’s death.

“She really enjoyed this five minutes of fame,” Toney said of the attention her mother received for continuing to stand by the Warriors even in her old age.

But to Toney, her mother will be most remembered for her positive attitude, being in charge and her ability to give advice to anyone under any circumstance.

And that includes dating advice. “Pick, choose and refuse,” Toney said her mother told one of her cousins recently when it came to dating.

“The biggest gift I think that she left all of us is her positive attitude about life and not worrying about things because we have no control anyway,” Toney, an Oakland resident, said with a chuckle. “That’s how I live and that’s how she lived.”

Her mother’s motto in life was that “it’s going to be OK,” Toney added. It was a mentality she carried through every war she lived through and any obstacle that stood in her way, Toney said.

Though Sweetie was sweet, Toney said her nickname came after Toney’s son, then age 2, started calling her that.

“We just picked it up,” Toney said.

While Sweetie died just three days before Christmas, her favorite holiday, Toney repeated her mother’s mantra that it would be OK and Christmas would still be a happy holiday for their family.

“She loved to decorate,” Toney said. “She had a tree in every single room. Just everything outside was lighted up. That was her happy time.”

Traditionally, on Christmas Eve, the entire family would gather at Sweetie’s home in Hayward for a catered dinner of turkey, corn bread dressing and string beans.

Wednesday night, Toney and a few of her cousins gathered at the Castro Valley care home Sweetie moved into this year. Toney, who claims she’s not much of a singer, said she was singing Christmas hymns to her mother.

“I was holding both her hands and she was squeezing my hands tightly,” Toney said. “She knows what you’re saying, she just can’t respond. That’s why we kept singing and touching her. She knew.”

After word of Sweentie’s death reached the Warriors’ front office Thursday morning, Toney said an email was forwarded to her from Raymond Ridder, a spokesman for the team.

“Her enthusiasm and zest for life and the Warriors were second to none, even as she surpassed the century mark,” Ridder wrote. “Sweetie’s presence at Oracle Arena during our championship season was as big of a thrill for us as it was for her.”

The last Warriors game Sweetie attended was in 2015, the year the team won the NBA title.

Sweetie’s memorial service will be held next week at the Chapel of the Chimes in Hayward.

“I can wake up in the morning and know that I gave my mom my all,” Toney said. “I wanted to make sure that her last days were the most comfortable in her life and they were.”

Sarah Ravani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sravani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SarRavani