A self-described country girl, Hazel was born Aug. 23, 1924, in St. Louis, to John D. and Clarice J. Breckenridge Burdick. The oldest of four children and the only daughter, young Hazel adored and mothered all her brothers, especially Larry, who was born when she was 16.
Hazel, a 1942 graduate of Columbia’s Hickman High School, started working at an early age in the dairy department of Kroger Grocery. It was there that she met the love of her life, Paul Cook. The two married on Feb. 11, 1950.
They raised four children together, and Hazel balanced motherhood with a career at Kroger, working for 40 years at stores in Columbia, Wentzville and St. Louis. She rose to the ranks of dairy department manager and senior cashier before retiring in 1986.
But it was Hazel’s second job — farming — that held her heart.
In 1970, she and Paul bought a humble farmhouse off a gravel road in Jonesburg that didn’t even have indoor plumbing. They fixed it up (adding a bathroom, much to the relief of their family) and cared for a menagerie of animals — pheasants, chickens, sheep, rabbits, cows, goats and the infamous George the Goose.
The small, yellow home surrounded by fields of corn and soybeans ended up becoming the favorite gathering place for a generation of nieces and nephews and grandkids who loved finding farm kittens tucked between bales of hay and chowing down on Hazel’s home cooking. Her fried chicken and fried pies were beyond compare.
As they got older and the farm became too much to maintain, Hazel and Paul returned to Columbia to retire in 1986. Though they no longer had a farm, Hazel continued to take in stray cats and feed the birds that would visit their yard. The Cooks promptly joined Missouri United Methodist Church and reacquainted themselves with their old home town, except in the winter when they escaped to Arizona to enjoy warm weather and family.
For years they divided their time between Columbia and Tucson until Paul died in 2006, just two days shy of their 56th wedding anniversary.
In her last few years, as she dealt with declining health and a move into a nursing home, Hazel could always count on regular visits from her devoted nephew Edward Cook and his wife Martha as well as her dear friend Beth Young and, of course, her brother Larry and his daughters, Toni Knoten and Cindy Forsythe. While we’ll miss her giving, sweet spirit, it was a blessing to have had Hazel for 93 years.
She is survived by two children, Jim (Tia) Cook of Tucson, Ariz., and Judy (Denny) Sanders of Jonesburg; brother Larry (Pam) Burdick of St. Louis; grandchildren Kristen (Joe) Salkowski and Alan Cook, both of Tucson; Robert (Amy) Sanders of Columbia and Richard (Robin) Sanders of Columbia, Tenn.; three great-grandchildren; sister-in-law Betty Burdick and daughter-in-law Annie Cook. She was preceded in death by sons Steve and Gary Cook and brothers John Jr. and Robert Burdick.
Visitation will be held 10-11 a.m. May 26 at Memorial Funeral Home, 1217 Business Loop 70 W. Funeral services will be held 11 a.m. May 26 at Memorial Funeral Home, and burial will follow at Memorial Park Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Columbia Second Chance, PO Box 10186, Columbia, MO 65205.
