Celebration of Life for Larry Cook - My Dad скачать в хорошем качестве

Celebration of Life for Larry Cook - My Dad

Larry Cook Eulogy By his daughter, Sandi Jerome When it comes to "fathers," I won the lottery with Dad. We were morning people - and when we'd go camping, Dad and I'd get up before breakfast and take the sunrise park ranger hikes. Then we'd make breakfast for my mom and brother, who were definitely NOT morning people. I'd go with Dad to construction sites, the dump, which was a highlight of my week, especially when we found a Barbie house. We both loved working on the ranch on La Honda. Dad encouraged me to go to college, and I think he's the only person who has read (or pretended to read) everything I wrote. I'm a writer today because of him. He loved to tell stories, jokes, and sing a song- he had an amazing imagination and, more importantly, he'd listened to and talked to everyone no matter where he was. He was a happy guy; he even taught his dog to smile. Larry Cook was a devoted husband. Dad carried two pictures of my mom in his wallet; he adored my mother. My parents met at a dance, and they danced as often as they could. Dad was also a son and brother - one of 7 kids - the oldest, Warren, who died on Christmas Day during World War 2, Thelma, with whom he lived in Florida when her husband was training to be a pilot. He also died, lost at sea, in World War 2. There was Dorothy, whose daughter Julie often visited him in assisted living. The youngest ones, Nellie, tragically died as a young mother, and a baby, Sheridan Rupert Cook, who died when he was a few months old. Dad was closest to his sister Madenia, and after both their spouses died, they traveled all over the world - including going to Paris, Luxembourg, to visit their brother's grave, and Rome to attend Mass with the Pope. Although his grandfather and great-grandfathers were Baptist ministers, he converted to Catholicism as a surprise to my mom (he had told her he was bowling). When George and Louise were having difficulty conceiving, he convinced Louise to attend weekly novenas, and that is why Louise named Mary Esther after the Blessed Mother, Mary. He always kept a rosary and a statue nearby, and even built a shrine to Mother Mary on our ranch in La Honda. Dad was a grandfather. One of the people he was most proud of was his granddaughter Andrea. Many of you haven't met her because my brother and Andrea's mother split up right after Andrea was baptized. Although I was her godmother and my parents dearly loved her, Stan kept her whereabouts a secret from us. But we were all reunited after she had grown, and Andrea has accomplished so much in life, she's an amazing real estate agent, former city councilwoman -- for a few terms and sometimes was even acting mayor. She has a wonderful family, is a hard worker, and Dad adored her. He and Mom were delighted to attend Andrea's wedding and later travel to Austin to watch their two great-grandsons, Aidan and Alec, grow up. I, too, loved visiting Austin to spend time with my niece and her family. After Mom died, Dad spent most holidays with his four great-granddaughters in Oregon and Florida. He attended their swim meets, school honor societies and always wanted to know the latest about all his great-grandkids. For Dad, family was everything. Mom and Dad were married in 1950, and celebrated their 50th anniversary in 2000, shortly after their last great grandchild, Suby, was born in 2000. At their wedding, the flower girls and ring bearer were Catherine's kids, Maxine, Elaine, and Bill. To give you an idea of the span of the Nellesen grandkids, Bill Osborn, the ring bearer ,was born in 1943; he's the oldest, the youngest is Christopher, and he and his wife Jennifer have the youngest Nellesen great-grandkids, with the oldest great-grandkid being Rhonda, born in 1963. - there are over 60 years from Rhonda to Sequia Rowen, and Elle - Wow! Because my parents were young, they were the favorite uncles and aunts of most of my older cousins, so Larry was an Uncle to so many. He was close to Mom's family, the Nellesens - in fact, his brother-in-law, George Nellesen, Uncle George, moved to Escondido. Thanks to Jennifer and Christopher Nellesen, he is now buried in the same Veterans Cemetery in Riverside as Uncle George. I last saw my dad on Father's Day; it was sort of a tradition for Stan and Dad to go to the Father's Day tractor show together, and I kept up that tradition after Stan passed away. The rest of these slides are just some random pictures of the world's greatest dad, ending with my wonderful parents, who are united again.