March 22, 1916 - February 26, 2020

Our dearest mother, Florence Cook, passed away peacefully on Wednesday, February 26, 2020. She was born on March 22, 1916 to Jacob and Elizabeth Schubert in Walla Walla, WA. She attended high school in Walla Walla after which she moved to Seattle to attend the University of Washington. She completed nurses training at Swedish Hospital and earned her degree in three years. Florence worked in both the maternity and orthopedic wards at Swedish and it was during this time that she was asked to give Eleanor Roosevelt a grand tour of the hospital. This was quite a feather in her cap. It was also during this time that Florence met her future husband, Ellsworth (Al) Cook, at a nurses dance. We are told it was love at first sight and they were married three months later on August 18, 1939.

Florence was a very active parent. She was a Cub Scout and Brownie leader, a Boy Scout and Girl Scout leader, and also served as PTA president for a time. She belonged to several bridge groups, was a long-time member of a Children’s Orthopedic Guild, a local needle arts guild, and the Swedish Hospital Alumni. She was also an excellent seamstress, a wonderful cook, and so very gracious. Florence and Al were experienced travelers and visited China, England, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, and Scotland. They also went on cruises to Greece, Italy, Portugal, Morocco, Spain, and Mexico. The highlight of their travels was in 1975 when they went to Germany and visited Mom’s relatives as well as the house where her father lived.

In 1999, following 59 years of marriage, Florence’s beloved husband Al passed away. At this time, the family home was sold and Florence moved to University House in Seattle. Several years later, she chose to move to a senior community in Everett, WA to be closer to her daughter and then to a wonderful adult family home in Mill Creek, WA. The most important thing to Florence was her family. She loved us, taught us, mentored us, disciplined us, and laughed, cried, and shared with us. As a family, we could not have had a better matriarch and friend. Florence was preceded in death by her siblings Marquette (Mark), Frances, Arnold, Wilbur, and Robert (Bob). She is survived by her son Steve Cook (Dianne), her daughter Cathy Cook Fletcher, her grandchildren Jodi Akhlaghi (Ali), Brian Fletcher (Rabamba), Ryan Southard (Jaclyn), Mike Perez (Grace), as well as eight great grandchildren.

At Florence’s request, there will be no memorial service.

Obituaries

Florence Cook

FUNERAL INFORMATION