Mrs. Lena O'Mera (Majors) Majors Cook

COOK, Lena O’Mera (Majors), 81, passed away on Wednesday, October 7th, 2015. She was born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama on August 17th 1934. She graduated from St. Margaret's Hospital School of Nursing with a RN degree in 1955. She was predeceased by her husband Ferris Gaskin Cook Sr. to whom she was married for 42 years; parents, Homa C. and Cleva Mae (Evans) Majors; brothers Fletcher Oliver Majors and Hurshel Bascome Majors . Survivors include her sons, Ferris (Kin) Gaskin Cook, Jr (Lisa), Tampa, Fl, Jeffery Bernard Cook (Shirley), Valrico, Fl; Daughter, Melissa O’Mera Corso Parks (Dan), Cookeville TN; Sisters, Cal Harmon, Conover, NC and Charlotte Culpepper, Dallas TX; 17 grandchildren and 8 great grandchildren, plus a large extended family and many friends.

O’Mera and her husband Ferris settled in Brandon, Florida in 1963. She lived and loved in the home they created until her death.

The recitation of facts about her long and full life cannot begin to contain the woman known to grandchildren and great-grandchildren as “Sugar”. Some of those grandchildren weren’t born to her, but became hers because she welcomed them into her home and heart.

She took great pride in her career as a nurse, because being a healer, caregiver and nurturer were characteristics that were as much a part of who she was as her infectious smile and generous heart. She was once awarded the prestigious commendation of “Nurse of the Year” from her employer but the title she took most pride in was ”Dr. Cook” by generations of friends, family and neighbors who brought a steady stream of bumps, cuts, sprains, possible broken bones and bruised spirits to her capable hands for a trusted assessment of medical treatment required and possibly, a treat from the tin of chocolates always present on her sideboard.

She could be fierce in her convictions and wasn’t afraid to take a stand when needed but managed with grace that unerring ability to “speak the truth with love’ that many aspire to but few achieve. She wasn’t perfect and experienced the griefs and sorrows this life offers up, along with its accolades and victories. She walked through dark times holding tightly to her faith in God and her unerring belief that the love of friends and family can get you through to the other side. She grabbed several of us by the hand and pulled us through our own dark times, too.

Her children and grandchildren learned from her example that caring for others makes this life rich and that sometimes people needed a hug and a listening ear and sometimes they needed you to buy a cartload of groceries and deliver them yourself. She was a giver and all who knew her benefitted not only from her open hand but her open heart. She held material possessions lightly but relationships close. She showed up and cheered you on. She made you feel like you were the most important person in her world.

She was a daughter, sister, wife, mother, grandmother, aunt and friend. She was the strong center that held us steady. There is a hole in our hearts and an empty place in our lives but we will hold that space open with memories of the strong, loving, wise woman that she was until we see her again.

Visitation will be held at Stowers Funeral Home, 401 W. Brandon Blvd. Brandon, FL 33511, Sunday, October 11th from 6 pm – 8 pm. A funeral service will be held at Stowers on Monday October 12th at 3:00 pm with graveside services to follow immediately afterward at Hillsboro Memorial Gardens.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Reach One Touch One Ministries, an organization dear to Sugar’s heart, which provides social, medical and economic support to grandmothers raising orphaned grandchildren in Uganda. Donations may be made online at http://reachone-touchone.org/in-memory-of-sugar or mailed to ROTOM, PO Box 62186, Colorado Springs CO 80962.