Sara Betty Jones Cook died early Saturday morning, Sept. 14th, 2024, with her son by her side.
She lived a long and happy life filled with love, beauty and grace. Born at home in Manassas, Georgia, January 3rd, 1933, to Betty Hodges Jones and Walter E. Jones, she moved with her family to Statesboro, Georgia, at the age of 4. Her family eventually settled in the Collegeboro neighborhood, located near the college campus and largely populated by faculty and faculty families. By all accounts, hers was an idyllic childhood, filled with friends and nurtured by family and neighbors.
She began her education at the laboratory school, but received the bulk of her schooling at Statesboro city schools. She engaged in a host of extracurricular activities, band, gymnastics and Girl Scouts, to name but a few. It was in the tidal waters surrounding Girl Scout Camp Low in Chatham County where she both learned to swim and developed her great love of the Georgia coast.
Upon graduation from Statesboro High School, she began matriculation at what was then Georgia Teachers College, now Georgia Southern University. By the age of 18, she had completed two years of college, which she considered a strong argument for convincing her parents to allow her to leave college and marry the love of her life, George Austin Cook. Family opposition proved futile to their love and in March of 1951, they married.
After a few years of married life, she returned to college and completed her undergraduate degree. Thirty years later, she returned once more and earned a master's degree.
Sara Betty began her teaching career in Statesboro at the then brand-new Mattie Lively School in 1954. She then taught in Richmond Hill, Georgia; served as the inaugural director/teacher for the Douglas Georgia First Methodist Kindergarten program, a program still going strong as a Pre-K some 50+ years later; and ended her teaching career by serving for 15 years as a first grade teacher at Sylvania/Screven County Elementary School.
She was a creative and passionate teacher, caring deeply about the students she taught. Her long-time principal always maintained she was the best first grade teacher he had ever employed.
Her teaching career took a hiatus when she and George adopted their first child, Carol, in 1958, as state regulations at the time did not allow adoptive mothers to work. Their family expanded in 1961 with the addition of a son, Kevin. During this time, she devoted her energies to supporting her husband in his illustrious athletic/athletic administration career, raising their family and participating in a variety of community activities.
Holding a profound faith, membership in church and participation in church activities was always a central feature of Sara Betty's life. At the time of her death, she had been a member of her beloved Statesboro First United Methodist Church for 49 years. She was a loyal and active member of the United Methodist Women (now Women in Faith), serving as treasurer for three terms and as recording secretary for her circle for over 20 years. For years, she was the "go-to" person, overseeing decorations for large-scale UMW events.
Her contributions were acknowledged when she was selected as a Quiet Disciple. In her response to this award, she stated, "I am overwhelmed by this honor and try to live as a disciple, but no one who has ever known me thinks I'm quiet."
Blessed with an artist's eye, Sara Betty saw and embraced beauty everywhere. She especially appreciated the magnificence, glory and beauty of the natural world. Perhaps her greatest gift was her extraordinary ability to create stunning flower arrangements. She was a long-time member of garden clubs everywhere she lived, Richmond Hill (charter member), Douglas and Statesboro, winning innumerable flower show prizes, but her most stunning creations were likely those where she picked up her clippers, wandered through the yard, cut a few green leaves, added a magnolia seed pod or other found natural material and created an arrangement for her own kitchen table. Her kitchen window was always a bower of beauty.
One would be remiss not to mention that she possessed great natural beauty herself. As a child, strangers would stop her mother in the street and exclaim over Sara Betty's beauty. She maintained her good looks through life, coming from a time when women believed that "taking care of your skin" was as important as good dental hygiene and would never even consider going out in public without full makeup. She had a lifelong love of beautiful clothes and remained a fashion plate until the end.
Ultimately though, her defining characteristic was her kindness, which she gave freely to both those she knew and those she didn't. Her son once asked her, "Why does everyone think you're so nice?"
"Because I'm old," she replied. "Everyone always thinks old ladies are nice."
In this, she was wrong. Everyone thought she was nice because she was. She always exuded grace and quiet dignity, but most importantly kindness.
In addition to her parents, Sara Betty was predeceased by her husband of 60 years, George A. Cook; daughter, Carol Cook Lee; and her brother and sister-in-law, Walter Herbert Jones and Miranda Storey Jones.
She is survived by her beloved and ever constant canine companion, Scooter Cook; her son, Kevin Cook; her sister and brother-in-law, Evelyn and Elmer Akin of Marietta, Ga.; an almost daughter, Anna Franklin Wickman of Tallahassee, Fla.; grandchildren of her heart, John and Robbie Wickman of Tallahassee, Fla.; nieces, Melissa (Frank Briscoe) Fontaine of Vinings, Ga.; and Jana (Tom) Elder of Canton, Ga.; and a nephew, Jeff (Mary Ann) Akin of Raleigh, N.C.
Her family would like to thank Dr. Maria Moogerfeld and her practice for providing over 20 years of loving, thorough and exacting medical care. Additional thanks are due to the extraordinary and compassionate team at Southern Wellness and Rehab, who kept her up and going for so long. Sara Betty was blessed in her final days to have Shonda Collins Allen as her companion/caregiver. Shonda immeasurably enriched Sara Betty's life.
A memorial service celebrating Sara Betty's life will be held on Sunday, Nov. 24th, at 3 p.m. at the Statesboro First United Methodist Church.
Visitation will precede the service at 2 p.m. in the church fellowship hall.
Because she was so active in the UMW for so many years, the family requests past and present members of the UMW/WIF to please come and sit together in a place of honor reserved for them.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to: Pierce Dickens Legacy Fund for Music, Statesboro First United Methodist Church, P.O. Box 2048, Statesboro GA, 30459; or a charity of your choice.
Statesboro Herald, November 19, 2024
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