William O. Crook Jr.

William Oscar Crook Jr. was a loving husband, father of three and grandfather to many. He was a family man at heart, and loved spending as much of his 82 years on this earth with his family as he possibly could. You would talk with him for hours and never sit in silence. As a collector of a great many things, William (or Junior as many of his family called him) had a story behind just about everything. All you had to do was ask him about one of his many statues, model cars, paintings or figurines, and he would tell you how he got it, or who it was from. Even if his hearing wasn't so great, it was amazing how good his memory was. His knowledge and experience was never lost on those privileged enough to spend some quality time with him, even if the knowledge was about how not to cook a pizza. Even after he became confined to a wheelchair, it was always surprising the things he taught himself to do and how well he managed such a life changing event. Junior was the second eldest of 4 brothers and last surviving member. He and his late wife Margot Ina Crook would have celebrated their 62nd wedding anniversary this September, sadly Margot left us as well this past January. Junior loved his family, and when you were with him, time seemed irrelevant. In their many years together, the two formed a family of five, starting with the eldest Steven Craig Crook, their middle child Michael Gene Crook and their youngest Anthony Wade Crook. Of course, that family has grown much larger over the years and as a result, they were blessed with many grandchildren and great grandchildren. Steven and his wife Tamara Sue Crook (Steffens) had two children, Matthew Steven and Nicole Marie. Michael and his wife Kristie Starr Crook (Thomas) have three children, Melissa Earlene, Ashley Nicole and Alan Michael. Melissa and her husband Steven Dunn provided three of their great grandchildren, Grayson Alexander, Adeline Earlene and Emmett Michael. Ashley and her husband Keith Robinson rounds off the bunch with two children of their own, Drake Patrick Edward and Carter Thomas. Anthony and his wife Melissa La Rose Crook (McKnight) provided yet another grandson in Mitchell Sherman Ziegler. William Oscar Crook Jr. left us on Wednesday the 11th of September, at DePaul hospital in Bridgeton, Missouri. May he and Margot watch over all of us as we live the rest of our lives in their memory. His laugh and heartwarming smile will forever be missed.