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Submitted: 1/7/15 • Approved: 1/9/15 • Last Updated: 2/28/20 • R762087-G762087-S3
Ralph
Jan 12, 1914 Paducah, KY
Oct 21, 2012 Mtn. View, Howell, MO
Opal
Sept 23, 1915
Aug 14, 1998
Jerry Ralph Cook, 88, son of Thomas Lee and Eunice Fay Cook, was born Jan. 12, 1914, at Paducah, Texas. He died Oct. 21, 2002, at Mountain View.
He married Opal Lea Smith July 19, 1931, at Liberal, Kan. They had seven daughters.
Mr. Cook accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior in his early 20s. He and his wife were baptized in the Uncompahgre River near Delta, Colo. The family lived in Colorado and Texas before moving to Missouri.
In Missouri, Mr. Cook became active in the Tyrone Free Will Baptist Church, where he was ordained as a deacon. He later was ordained as a minister.
The Cook family moved from the Tyrone area to Kansas City, where he was an electrician at General Motors Co. from 1951 to 1974, when he retired. He worked the night shift so he could continue to pastor, serving in several churches in the Kansas City area. He was also a church builder, start-ing Free Will Baptist Churches in the Kansas City area and in south Missouri.
On his retirement, he and his wife moved back to the Tyrone community and were active members of the Tyrone Free Will Baptist Church.
In October 1998, Mr. Cook became legally blind, forcing him to sell his home and give up driving. For the last four years, he made his home with his daughter, Yvonne and Elmer Bradford.
He was preceded in death by his wife; his parents; stepfather, Harry Walker; brothers, Billy Walker, and Peck and Charles Cook; sister, Lillie Jaharris; and a grandson.
Surviving are his daughters, Rosa Faye Collins of Willow Springs, Yvonne Mae Bradford and Jerry Lea Miller of Elk Creek, Lillie Bea Pitts of Summersville, Patricia Ann Hand of DeSoto, Mary Mildred Shipley of Archie and Connie Lynn Jones of Murfreesboro, Tenn.; two sisters, Lillian Wells of Borger, Texas, and Evelyn Baker of Grand Junction, Colo; 20 grandchildren, 38 great-grandchildren, eight great-great-grandchildren and Audrey Aldridge, a friend who made sure he was able to attend his church faithfully.
Services were Oct. 24 at the Tyrone Free Will Baptist Church with Mike Pitts, Richard Spacek, Kendall Ford and David Mathis officiating. Burial was in the Tyrone Cemetery under the direction of Elliott-Gentry Funeral Home of Cabool. [Houston Herald online, posted Dec. 30, 2003]
Contributed on 1/7/15 by mjrwag
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Record #: 762087