Wednesday, August 26, 2026
To my cousins Jim, Rob, Pete and Marg and your beloved partners and kids - my heartfelt condolences on John's passing. Though I am the same age as Jim (John's oldest son), John and his siblings Mary (Paul Harding) and Elizabeth Ann (Ray Staples) were my first cousins. My father George Cooke (Aileen) was John's uncle - his mother Nellie's youngest brother. George and Nellie's other siblings were Margaret (Tom Henderson), Clayton and Dan Cooke.
When I picture John in my mind and heart, I cannot see him without Diana. I see them at Uncle Dave and Aunt Nellie's home on Roy Street in Kitchener on visits with my parents; I see them in their home on Glasgow street - John in his 'Nifty Fifty' hockey sweater his family gifted him on his 50th birthday; I see them at Valhalla, glowing. And now, I see them together again. Happy and at peace. If I had to chose one word to describe the feeling inside me that is John and Diana, it would be "warmth."
Love to the family from Cousin Bill Cooke.
