J. Clifford Cook (1898-1968)

COOK, STRATTON, BUZZARD, SUMMERBELL, HAWKINS

Posted By: volunteer
Date: 2/16/2020 at 16:52:14

J. Clifford Cook, 70, 602 north Fourth street, retired farmer and former city and county officer and businessman, died at Mahaska Hospital at 5 p.m. Sunday after several weeks illness.
Cook was well known throughout Mahaska County as a farmer, former Oskaloosa businessman, and through his years of public service in several capacities.
He was actively associated with the Mahaska Farm Bureau and its service organization in the past, served as a member of the county Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Committee, and through his farm connections was one fo the best informed persons on Mahaska farm land and productivity in the county.
During his years in farming and road work and as a rural mail carrier he had gained a wide acquaintanceship throughout the area.
He owned and operated a food market in Oskaloosa from 1924 to 1940. He was a member of the Oskaloosa City Council from 1932 through 1935, and served on the Oskaloosa police force for a year in 1923.
Cliff was an influential layman of the Central United Methodist church, was long a member and also chairman of the official board, and chairman of the board of trustees.
He was elected a member of the county board of supervisors for the 1959 term and through his efforts introduced a number of operating economies that resulted in a considerable saving of tax money in county affairs. He left the board in 1961 to assume the office of county recorder following the death of Dave B. Hawkins.
He was born at West Branch, Jan. 14, 1898, son of James Hadley and Ruth Anna Stratton Cook. The family came to this vicinity while he was a small boy and he grew up in the rural area. He attended Oskaloosa schools and Penn Academy. He married Mary Reynolds of Oskaloosa, June 12, 1924.
Surviving are his wife, Mary; three brothers, Willard of Tuscon, Ariz., Roscoe of Broadhead, Wis., and Walter of Landisberg, Pa.; one sister, Mrs. Nelson (Eloise) Buzzard of Tuscon; and several nieces and nephews.
Funeral services will be held at the Newman Funeral Chapel at 2 p.m. Wednesday, with the Rev. Dr. Merrill D. Summerbell of Central United Methodist in charge. Burial will be in Forest Cemetery.