James Charles Cook

Jim attended the local elementary and Jr. High school in Owensboro, Kentucky where he fell in love with playing basketball. He needed to work on the family farm so that is when his direction changed to farm until he met Patsy Jean Drake in early 1952 from Greenville, Kentucky.

On June 11, 1952, Jim and Patsy married at their pastor’s home. Not soon afterwards, they moved from Kentucky to Indiana so Jim could begin working at Inland Steel in East Chicago, Indiana. They also decided to start a family. They moved to several different locations in Northern Indiana before purchasing their home in Highland, Indiana in August 1963. In the 70’s and early 80’s, Jim worked part-time for Bill’s Movers, in addition to working full-time at Inland Steel. Jim worked at Inland Steel for 32 years and retired in 1994 as a Truck Driver in the Steel Mill.

In 1994, Jim and Patsy sold their Indiana home and moved to Nevada (Las Vegas) to set up their new retirement home in the beautiful community of Desert Shores. They became members of Shadow Hills Church and Jim became an usher. Jim also loved spending time with his Sunday School class and Bible Study group.

Jim enjoyed and loved his pets. He had dogs named Shane, Prince, Nick, and Al over his lifetime. He also owned a large fish tank where he had an array of beautiful freshwater fish.

While living in Las Vegas, Jim enjoyed the pleasure of growing gorgeous and vibrant colored flowers and cacti at his home, fishing, and walking around the lakes in his community for exercise.

Over the years, Jim would travel to see his family in Kentucky, California, Indiana, or South Carolina.

Jim loved to go hiking and began that hobby around the age of 70. He and his oldest son hiked to the top of Half-Dome in Yosemite National Park. Then, in his early 80’s, they hiked through Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park. Jim often talked about nature and how he wanted to do more hikes.

As mentioned, Jim loved to fish. This was one of his greatest joys and hobbies. When visiting his daughter and son-in-law in South Carolina, you could find Jim on the shores of Lake Hartwell trying to catch “the big one.” He also hiked in North Carolina near Lake Lure, Chimney Rock, and Triple Falls.

Jim enjoyed going to classic car shows too. He would often go with his son and daughter-in-law who live locally. With Jim’s love for cars, he attended his first Indianapolis 500 race in May 2015 for the 99th running of the event.

Jim was known to be a big storyteller. He has been referred to as a wonderful guy, a great man, and was always full of laughter and funny stories. He was hardworking, down to earth, had a dazzling and cheerful smile with an infectious laugh that would brighten any room. Jim had a competitive edge too and had a love for playing Gin Rummy and a game called Sequence.

Jim is preceded in death by his wife of 62 years, Patsy; his parents, Ben and Elizabeth Cook, his brothers, Walter Cook, John Cook, Harrison Cook, Ike Cook, Clayton Cook, and sister, Betty Bratton. He is survived by his sons, Jim (Priscilla) Cook; Mark (Debbi) Cook; and daughter, Donna (Larry) Gross. Grandchildren, Rachel Cook and Chelsea (Taron) Jordan. One great-grandchild; India Jordan; Sister, Mildred (Jerry) Smith located in Philpot, Kentucky. Also, Jim has numerous nieces, nephews, and friends from coast to coast.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Boys Town (boystown.org/give), Shadow Hills Church (shadowhills.org/give) or to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital (stjude.org/donate) in Jim’s name/honor.