Edith Fitzgerald Cooke

Mrs. Edith Fitzgerald Cooke, 79, of Steele, Mo., died Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2013, at Heritage Square in Blytheville after a brief illness.

Born April 2, 1934, in Phoeba, Miss, she graduated from Phoeba High School in 1952 and attended Mississippi State College for Women from 1952-54. She married George Cooke June 13, 1954. They were married for 56 years and remained devoted to each other until his death in 2010. She was a member of the First Baptist Church choir from about 1958-2009, and taught for many years in the Sunday school children's program at the church. Very musically talented, she sang and played the piano for the choir. Mrs. Cooke was also very interested in gardening, crafts and sewing, and on top of that she kept an immaculate house. She was a member of Gamma Beta Phi and the Steele Book Club, and she taught for many, many years as a substitute teacher at the R-3 School District, retiring in the late 1990s.

She was preceded in death by her husband, George W. Cooke; her father, David Cecil Fitzgerald; her mother, Cora Elizabeth Richardson White; a sister-in-law, Margaret Cooke Vincent; and her younger brother, David Fitzgerald.

Survivors include three daughters, Lynn Cooke Holden and her husband, Jerry Holden, of Terry, Miss., Carol Lee Cooke of Steele and Anne Margaret Vincent of Tuscaloosa, Ala.;

A son, George David Cooke and his wife, Sally, of Blytheville;

One sister-in-law, Virginia Cooke Franklin of Northport, Ala;

Four grandchildren, Joshua David Cooke of Starkville, Miss., Courtney Cooke of Blytheville, and George Glyn Holden and Elisabeth Ashlee Holden of Terry, Miss;

Two nephews, Michael Cooke Franklin and his wife, Wendy, of Starkville, Miss., and Patrick Cooke Franklin of Northport, Ala.; and

Many other relatives and friends.

Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at the First Baptist Church of Steele, with the Rev. Michael Funderburk officiating. Burial will follow at Pemiscot Memorial Gardens near Caruthersville. Visitation will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at the First Baptist Church of Steele. John W. German Funeral Home of Steele is in charge of services.

Pallbearers will be Bill Sullivan, Mike Davis, Joshua Cooke, Troma Jones, Glyn Holden and Jonathan Baker. Honorary pallbearers will be Jack Brooks, Bill Lewis and Johnny Carter.