COOK, Beverly B. 1921-2002

COOK

Posted By: K. Kittleson
Date: 3/7/2009 at 10:47:27

BEVERLY 'BEV' BLANCHE COOK

MANLY - Beverly "Bev" Blanche Cook, 80, of Manly, died Monday (March 4, 2002) at Muse-Norris Hospice Inpatient Unit, Mason City.

Funeral services will be 10:30 a.m. Thursday at the Bethel United Methodist Church in Manly with the Rev. Robert Cumings officiating. Burial will be in Manly Cemetery.

Friends may call from 4 until 7 p.m. Wednesday at Bride Colonial Chapel, 110 E. Spring Street, Manly, and one hour prior to service time at the church Thursday.

The family of Beverly Blanche Cook has requested that memorial contributions be made in her memory.

Beverly Blanche Knowles was born on July 13, 1921, four miles west and one-half mile north of Manly, the first child born to Ellis and Velma (Kimmel) Knowles. At the time of her birth, she had nine living grandparents, two on her father's side and seven on her mother's side. Her birth made five generations.

Beverly attended the rural school a half mile north of her home and graduated from Manly High School in 1939. She attended Iowa State Teacher's College in Cedar Falls for a year and taught two years in a rural school one mile south of Manly, which was also the first school in which her mother taught.

Beverly married Edward Francis Metzger in Princeton, Mo., on August 20, 1941. They farmed five miles west and one and half miles south of Manly until his death on November 29, 1969.

Beverly worked as a secretary at Bethel United Methodist Church for about six years prior to her husband's death. Following Francis' death, Beverly moved into Manly and was employed at Iowa Kemper in Mason City for eleven years.

On November 1, 1997, Bev married Gale Edwin Cook of Vinton at Manly, and they have lived in Manly since that time.

Beverly always enjoyed hobbies. She enjoyed sewing and made clothes for both herself and her family. As a farmer's wife, she raised chickens and had a big garden. In 1963, because of a high school assignment for her son, she became interested in searching family history and has continued that hobby up until the time of her death. She did a lot of traveling because of her research visiting all the large genealogical libraries in Salt Lake City, Utah; Madison, Wis.; Fort Wayne, Ind.; and Washington, D.C., many times. She has also done research in 11 of the State Historical Libraries. During this time, she published six family history books that have been sent all over the United States and are in the genealogical libraries. Since her marriage in 1997, she and Gale have been searching for his ancestors. Gale accompanied Bev on her 26th and 27th trip to Salt Lake City. The "Cook Book" has just been finished and is now ready to go to relatives and to be placed in genealogical libraries.

Beverly has taken an active part in her church, Bethel United Methodist, Entre Nous Study Club, Christian Home Builders, Worth County Historical Society, North Iowa Genealogical Society in Mason City, Manly Senior Citizens, the Camera Club, Study Club, and the DAR of Mason City.

Bev is survived by her husband, Gale Cook, of Manly; her children, Raymond Edward (Rick) Metzger and his wife, Delores, of Manly, Racinda Alice (Cindi) Metzger of Atlantic, and Ranita Frances DeRocher and her husband, Ron, of Westfield; her grandchildren, Cassie Jo and Cory Francis DeRocher of Westfield and Sandra Steele and her two daughters, Jennifer and Melanie of Glenwood; a brother, Robert Knowles of Manly; a step-daughter, Carol Patterson and her husband, Kenneth, of Lafayette, Ind.; three step-grandchildren, Scott Patterson and his wife, Toni, of Fort Sill, Okla., Bret Patterson and his wife, Heather, of Lafayette, Ind., and Krista Minton and her husband, Troy, of Fort Wayne, Ind.; three step-great-grandsons, Christian and Tyler of Fort Sill, Okla., and Isaak of Lafayette, Ind.; two nieces, Rebecca Real and her husband, Kevin, of Plymouth, Minn., and Roxanne Knowles of Ames; a nephew, Phillip Metzger and his wife, Kathy, of Belvedere, Ill.; and other relatives and many friends.

Beverly was preceded in death by her parents; her first husband, Francis Metzger; her granddaughter, Callie Marie DeRocher; and her sister, Lola Mae Knowles.

[Globe Gazette]