Nancy M. Cook

So a moment to talk about our mom and her personality. Anyone who knew our mom knew she was spirited. She had a passion for music both playing and moving to it. Her body moved in ways that would make Elvis jealous. Her love of line dancing was crazy. She had all the outfits to go with her moves. She was also an accomplished accordion player. In 1957 she won the top award out of 2500 contestants at the International Music League for playing her accordion. One of the songs she played was the William Tell Overture…her fingers just flew over the keyboard. She and her sister Dorothy played many holiday tunes via an accordion duet. With that love of music came her love for the Phantom Regiment. She loved the music and watching the rifles and flags. She and her best friend Jean Blade would just start bawling whenever we started playing. We could never figure out how they watched the shows through that waterfall of tears! She missed only a few Show of Shows. When I started to hold Alumni rehearsals at my house, she was there soaking it all in. A couple of times we put her in the middle of the horn arc and we played Elsas Procession to her… major tears but it meant so much to her. On the day she died I could see she was starting to cross over…so I fired up a video on my phone of the Phantom Regiment playing Elsas. She would have wanted that. She would have loved seeing me cry my eyes out listening to Elsas.

Attached to her face almost 24/7 was her phone. Lordy Lordy that woman loved to talk. My husband and my dad actually made up a song about how much we talked…to the tune of On the Road Again…except it was On the Phone Again! If my mom got you on the phone you knew you were going to be land-locked for at least an hour. She loved sharing her day and hearing about yours. And her flip phone was hardy! She lost it one day and the whole world turned upside down. We all looked everywhere. She had been out with friends for dinner…not in the restaurant.. not in their car…and not in the lot. We scoured the house…not a ring could be heard. The next morning mom called Kelly on her other flip phone and asked him to come over because her toilet was clogged. Luckily the black thing he pulled out of the toilet was her missing flip phone! He threw it in a bag of rice and a few days later…good as new!

Flowers, flowers and more flowers. At one time my mom decided the backyard needed to look like Anderson Gardens. She had flower beds lining the fences. Our poor dad would come home from work and there would be a new spray paint outline for a new garden area. He’d just shake his head and go grab the shovel. She kept that up for years until her balance and endurance decided to change her plans. Knowing how much my mom liked sitting outside Monte thought that what she needed was a deck…and then another deck…and then a roof! I can’t tell you how many times she would tell us how much she loved sitting out back on her deck with a cup of coffee and a snack. She’d have friends come over and 10 to 1 they wound up sitting on the deck drinking coffee and sharing stories. We do wish she could have had one more time enjoying her deck. It’s the little things.

My mom absolutely loved and worshiped her mom Hildur. Her mom owned a few local restaurants which was a family affair. The stories that came out of those years were so epic I had to write them into our family history book. Our mom loved talking about those days. So many good memories and funny stories. Best part is that’s how she met our dad. Story goes she was working as a waitress at grandma’s restaurant and in comes this goofy looking guy driving a shinny Cadillac who happened to be crazy! Boy could he make her laugh…A LOT! Her mom wasn’t thrilled with her choice…as grandma told her “he doesn’t have a pot to **** in!” But sharing their laughter was the love that connected them. My dad was a good instigator to get her to laugh and scold him. I don’t know how many times he would flash her from the side porch…and I’m talking frontal. She’d just say, “Don…stop that!” Man did we hear that a lot growing up! Dad would just smile and make his naughty boy face. She never knew what he was going to do and she loved it. Mom loved to laugh… so there was a lot of love.

A few years after our dad passed away…my mom hooked up with Monte…my dad’s best friend. She really never thought she’d fall in love again. Well they got together and shortly after the sparks flew and one thing led to another. After living together for a while…they wanted to make sure they wouldn’t end up wanting kill each other…they went down to the courthouse with Evelyn and made it official. The first few months they swore my dad was haunting them in the house. Poor Monte couldn’t measure stuff right anymore…which was a trait my dad had for home repair. Measuring twice was for sissies! Monte enjoyed spoiling her rotten and taking care of my mom. There was nothing she wanted that he wouldn’t get no matter the hour. Luckily for him, Monte knew how to line dance. Although he couldn’t keep up with her energized moves he always got out on the dance floor with her. Monte wasn’t quite the kind of jokester that our dad was but he made her so happy. She always told people she was incredibly lucky to have had two wonderful husbands. Her heart was never the same when Monte left us in 2022.

Mom’s love of her kids and grandkids was epic. Talk about someone who would brag about her family! Oh man did she absolutely love being a grandma. She would light up when talking about what her grandkids were doing. I’m sure there wasn’t a detail that her friends didn’t know about when it came to her grandkids. She was so proud of all their accomplishments. As far as me and Kelly…we were her rock. She said I reminded her of her mom. Independent, willing to take anything on and always motivated. Since I knew how much she loved her mom…I knew I was in a special place. She liked to go on and on about what I had done which I always found embarrassing. Kelly was the warm part of her heart. There wasn’t anything he could do wrong. The mother/son bond that he shared with her is unmatched. Kelly and I were sure that her daily calls of…”if you’re out could you pick me up something from the store?” was her way to get a visit from him almost every night. Regardless of long I could stay she was just happy to get some time to talk and hear about my day. Seeing her kids marry two very special people made her so happy! She would tell me how glad she was that Kelly and I found such good people to share our lives with. Her family was her world. Rarely a day would go by that she didn’t talk or see one of us. Some families drift apart. Ours only grew closer. We were blessed to have that.

As we enter into this new chapter of our lives it’s important to stop your day for a moment and take it in. Our mom would want you to share a story about her that makes you smile and laugh. If you go out and eat…save her spirit a spot and ask for extra buns and butter. Next year Kelly will make lefsa for the family and we will shed a tear. It was one of the things my mom asked for each Thanksgiving. While we may have an empty chair at the table we will stop for a moment to check the lefsa….one or two will be missing. You can’t stop a Norwegian from enjoying lefsa regardless of where their spirit now resides.

Survived by daughter Connie (Lee) Carlson, son Kelly (Sheri) Cook. Grandchildren Jeremy and Shannon (Mitch Dyrdahl) Carlson, Sean (Ariel) Cook and Mikaela Cook. And of course her beloved dog Candy.

Nephew and nieces include Dennis Swedlund, Diane (Terry) Swain, Marlana Dokken, Steve Dokken and Doug Swedlund. Cousins Colleen Stinson, Jo Ann Donoghue and Judy Cassioppi.

Predeceased by husbands Don & Monte, parents Hildur Tucker and Elmer Dokken, sister Dorothy (Dave) Weiner, Leroy (Delores) Dokken and several other family members.

Completing her world was her circle of friends who she cherished.Life long neighbor Wanda who was always there for her. Evelyn, Blanche and Char…she loved the friendship you shared. My mom had a lot of friends…so please know that she loved your calls and visits as well.

Lastly our family would like to thank Star. Your companionship and fun personality gave our mom so much joy her last couple months. We truly believe it helped her live out her life in the home that she and our dad bought in 1966!

As a good Scandinavian….SKOL!

In lieu of flowers please honor our mom by donating to your favorite charity, (the Phantom Regiment) regiment.org or Noah’s Ark.

A celebration of life gathering for Nancy will be held Friday, February 7, 2025 from 2:00 PM to 3:30 PM at Sunset Funeral Home & Memorial Gardens, 8800 North Alpine Road, Machesney Park, Illinois 61115, followed by a celebration of life service at 3:30 PM.

Nancy will be laid to rest in Sunset Memorial Gardens, 8800 North Alpine Road, Machesney Park, IL 61115.