Winifred T. Cook

Winifred Cook passed away peacefully at her home in Dallas on October 1, 2015, with her family at her side. She was 96 years old. A native Dallasite, she was born in Oak Cliff to Hattie Mae and Jake Tipps and grew up on Fifth Street, across from Lake Cliff Park. Winifred attended Central College High School in McPherson, KS and graduated from Greenville College in Greenville, Illinois in 1940. She began her teaching career in DeSoto Texas that same year and taught first and second grade there for 2 years. Married Bryan J. Cook, a fighter pilot in WWII and her high school sweetheart, in 1943. Winifred and Bryan had four children and lived in California, Kansas and Arizona before returning to Dallas, where she began teaching first grade again in 1956. Winifred taught for 18 more years, beginning at Casa Linda Presbyterian Church and completing her career in Mesquite ISD. She loved teaching first grade because her greatest joy was watching children learn to read, she said. Once retired from teaching Winifred and Bryan moved to DeSoto, TX, where they were active in Oak Cliff Presbyterian Church and later in First Presbyterian Church of Duncanville. She traveled all over the world with Bryan, experiencing different cultures and people. Her last trip abroad was at the age of 81 to visit her granddaughter in India. Winifred was a docent at Old City Park for 22 years and a member of the DeSoto Book Club. She is preceded in death by her husband of 66 years, Bryan J. Cook in 2009 and her sister Sarah Sue Burnett. Survivors include her four children, Karen Arrington, Tom Cook, Phoebe Gillespie and husband, Lawrence, and Paul D. Cook; nine grandchildren and 14 great grandchildren, along with her sister, Margery Cunningham, 2 nieces and 3 nephews. The family will receive friends beginning at 12 Noon on Friday, Oct. 9, 2015, with Services beginning at 12:45 p.m. at WEST/HURTT Funeral Home with private interment to follow at Dallas/Fort Worth National Cemetery. Memorials are encouraged to M.D. Anderson Cancer Hospital.