COOK, David William - Children of David Willard Cook
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David William Cook
By Gracia Cook and Anna Karine Cook Griffee
Excerpt from Children of David Willard Cook
David William Cook known in his younger days as "Willie" and later as "Bill", was the eldest son of David Willard Cook and Jean Bain Livingston. He was born September 4, 1905 in Fountain Green, Utah. He had one sister, Hazel, and five brothers, Cecil, Dewey, Loyal, Grant and Blaine.
His grandparents, William Francis and Jane Booth Cook, were yet living in Fountain Green, Utah with their five sons, Frank, George, Tom, David Willard, ester and daughter Eliza.
Bill's boyhood was happily spent in Fountain Green among his extended family of aunts, uncles and cousins. He wrote the following concerning some of his boyhood memories:
- One night my father and mother left me asleep at my Uncle Will and Aunt Eliza Jackson's home. Across the street was the church, a party, and my parents. I woke up and finding that I was alone I decided to go home. My hat and coat didn't keep me warm as I trudged through the dark, across the narrow foot bridge over the Big Creek, and home. I was locked out, but I could see a light in the next house where Aunt Zina Cook lived. 'Oh Willie', she cried when she met me at the door, 'where did you come from?' She put me on a chair and put my feet in the oven of her wood stove. Then she fed me a hot biscuit with honey on it. Nothing ever tasted better. Soon my parents came in greatly excited, as they thought their fear of my falling into the creek had been realized.
- Ward parties were held under the trees near the meeting house. Homemade ice cream was the best remembered treat.
- Steeny Guymon had a little store I passed on the way to school. Sometimes I traded an egg for a stick of penny candy.
- We had a raspberry patch where I often kept pet lambs.
- Hay hauling was a big event for me. I would ride the horse so that he would pull the hay up into the barn. Mother would serve gallons of lemonade.
- One day I went to the field with my father while he cut hay. While he was working, I played in the willows on one side of the field. I borrowed his pocket knife to cut some branches. The knife slipped and made a deep cut in my wrist. Father wrapped his handkerchief around it and sent me home. Mother objected to that. She later told Father that I may have bled to death on the way home. I still have the scar on my wrist.
- In front of our house we had a row of poplar trees. I would climb them all to visit the bird nests. I would climb all over the barn to visit the pigeon nests. I would climb tall poles just to look around. Mother was afraid I would break my neck.
- To save hay and pasture, the boys in Fountain Green used to herd milk cows in the streets and in the surrounding hills. I did not do much of this because as soon as I was old enough I was either in school or at the sheep camp.
- For recreation, we always had horses to ride. The boys I played with liked to go South of town to the Cedar Hill Reservoir, swim the horses to the island and there roast potatoes in an open fire and fry eggs in the frying pan that was permanently cached there.
- Hand sleds pulled behind saddle ponies was our favorite winter sport until we were old enough to drive teams, then we would have boy and girl bob sled parties on Sunday nights, usually ending the party by eating stewed oysters and crackers at one of our homes. The boys would bring the oysters and the girls the crackers.
- One of the horses I used to ride once in a while was a white mare named 'Cloud'. With this mare I had one difficulty. She was hard to bridle. I could not bridle her alone and I was ashamed to ask anyone to help me so I often rode her with only a halter. When something happened to excite 'Old Cloud', I could not keep her from running away without a bridle so I had some fast rides involuntarily. One day my cousin, Clifford Cook, and I tried riding `Old Cloud' together: She started out so fast that I fell off, landing on and breaking my left arm just above the wrist. Both bones were broken and I remember it did not look very straight before it was set.
- Father had a buggy horse called 'Vic' and I remember he seemed to feel that it would be an unpardonable disgrace to let anyone pass him. One day when we were coming from the horse races, which were held South of town on the road to Moroni, someone suddenly came up to our side with two horses on a buggy.. Father Let 'Old Vic' go in order not to let the other buggy pass. We were all breathless and when we finally slowed down my Mother said in a critical tone, 'Dave, what are you trying to do, kill us?' 'Well, he was trying to pass us,' replied my father as though that explained everything.
Bill told of hauling wash water for his Mother using a barrel and a wagon pulled by his huge dog, Old Bruce.
Jean Cook had the strength to manage alone with Bill, Hazel, and Cecil while her husband, David Willard, served his Eastern States Mission. During this time, Bill's little brother, Cecil, age three, became ill and died. Bill recalled this in a talk honoring his Mother in these words:
- At the time of Cecil's illness, she prayed constantly for his life to be spared and she called the Elders and they administered to him. When the Elders had left she told me (l was then eight years of age) that she felt the administration had gone no farther than the ceiling. She knew that Cecil was not going to live, that it was the Lord's will to take him. Then she prayed and made_ a covenant with the Lord that if he would permit Cecil to live until his Father could get home from the Eastern States where he was laboring as a missionary, she would accept Cecil's passing as the will of the Lord and not pray for him to live longer. The Lord granted this request, Cecil was permitted to live until Father got home and saw him alive, then he passed away and was buried in Fountain Green. This was the first burial in Father's lot in the Fountain Green Cemetery.
- After the funeral, Father returned to New York to complete his mission.
The family moved to Logan, Utah in 1917. Bill [the top of page 208 is cut off]
- While living in Hyrum during our first Summer in Cache Valley, Father bought his first automobile- a new 1917 Ford for $415.00. Thereafter Mother enjoyed the rides and trips in the open car. She had a duster and a hat that tied down. She loved the mountains and especially the drive through Wells vile and Brigham Canyons. She soon learned the best spots to stop for fresh water and a picnic. This made stopping to let the car cool a pleasure. I cannot remember Mother ever going anywhere without an appropriate, ample, and delicious lunch.
The family lived in a house on Second West for awhile, then bought a large house on 21st South First East, where they stayed until all were grown and married.
Bill was admitted to the old Brigham Young College Training School. This was considered as a privilege since tuition was required and the class sizes were small. He graduated from the B.Y.C. High School. He continued his education at the Agricultural College (now Utah State University) during the winter months when the work with his father's sheep was less demanding.
Warmer months found him herding out in the Nevada desert. He learned to use his time wisely in [top of page missing] Henry Robinson, his fellow herder. They read it many times aloud and discussed its precepts and stories in the quiet of the camp wagon.
Bill was an excellent camp manager. Everything was well taken care of and in its proper place when needed. His fried mutton and sour dough biscuits were delicious. His saddles, bridles, ropes, and all camp gear were kept in top condition by repairs cleverly made of leather or rope. He could tie all the right knots quickly and skillfully. His trucks were clean and well taken care of mechanically.
In times of drought, thirst-crazed herds will run right over small water holes and so miss getting watered. Bill devised a plan to water his herd by stringing them out for miles, thus enabling them to drink a few at a time as they came across the shrunken watering places.
Bill loved the outdoors, riding a good horse, and doing a particularly good job of camp tending and mending. He knew just how to further lambing by herding in places with the best feed and protection and got a fair-sized start on a herd of his own.
In 1925 Bill received a mission call to Germany. His feelings are reflected in the following quotation from one of his talks given in Church introducing two of his German converts.
- One of the Gospel teachings received through the Prophet Joseph Smith is that our own individual destiny is tied in with world events of great magnitude. In the Doctrine and Covenants we read:
- Wherefore, prepare ye,-0 My people; ... gather ye together, ... upon the land of Zion .. .
- Send forth the Elders of My Church unto the nations which are afar off ...
- The weak things of the world shall come forth ...
- Our individual destiny is tied to the world events outlined in this scripture. For example: The spring of 1925 found me chasing around the cedar hills and shadscale praries of the Nevada desert herding sheep. Christmas that same year sound me eating roast duck in the Black Forest of Germany. That was my connection to the Doctrine and Covenants reference to the Elders of the Church
being sent to foreign lands. To me the German forests were a long way from the Nevada desert.
- Another connection: A Nevada sheep herder was a weak thing of the world sent forth to a foreign nation to tell the people in a strange tongue:
- We have the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Wir Haben das Evangelium Jesu Christi.
Typically modest-Bill said:
- I cannot take credit for bringing the Gospel to Brother and Sister Dietze. I was a part of a movement which they recognized and became a part of.
The voyage to Germany on the Canadian Pacific Ocean Liner, S. S. Montclare, was luxurious and a sharp contrast to the sheep camp accommodations. He gloried in it and his mission. Bill's mission was a hard, intensely emotional experience where he learned to trust in the Lord and lean not unto his own understanding. His faith and humility deepened and matured as he learned the language and the Gospel message in Deutsch. He remembered chopping wood for a little old German lady and she complimented him on how neatly and quickly it was done. His missionary companions became treasured friends.
Hyrum Valentine, his mission president, set him apart as District President in Dresden the last seven months of his mission. Among other places, he labored in Munich, Leipzig, Chemnitz, and Hamburg. Bill determined to apply his philosophy of positive thinking to his missionary effort by making a pact with his companion to maintain an uncomplaining, cheerful attitude regardless of their burdens. The other astonished Elders asked, "How do you do it?"
One highlight of his mission was the dedication ceremony of the birthplace of Karl G. Maeser. He spoke, prayed, sang and conducted, under President Valentine's direction, with a small body of saints present.
After successfully completing his mission, Bill toured Italy, Czechoslovakia and other countries with several missionary companions. Italy was especially impressive and he planned to return. They came home to the U.S.A. in a beautiful white ocean liner. His companion, Russell Ballard, became sea-sick but Bill escaped that misery. They were met in New York by the father of Russell Ballard, Apostle Melvin Ballard, who drove them to Utah in a new car picked up at Detroit.
Blaine Cook was an infant when his brother Bill left for Germany for 33 months. When he returned home and stayed on, Blaine inquired of his Mother, "When is that man going home?"
For the next few years Bill worked closely with his Father and the sheep. Bill's Mother would bring out delicious lunches to her menfolk and how they enjoyed them! She would include a white table cloth to serve the meal at camp and always the blessing on the food was quietly spoken.
The depression deepened and the Cook sheep and range were wiped out except for one small bunch.
Winter months again found Bill in college. His studies included marketing, bookkeeping, and wool grading. These skills were useful when he went to Boston with the Cook sheep wool and sold the clip for his Father. He worked in a huge Boston wool house grading wool. He learned about the stock exchange and learned to tromp down huge wool bags, weigh them, and tie them securely. He became an expert in grading wool and could detect a period in the life of the lamb when food was scarce by a defect in the fiber. He used to say that that was like life--our sins and mistakes show up in the fibers of our lives.
While at college, he met Gracia Stewart, the daughter of James Z. Stewart Jr. and Johannah Kotter. There was a close association between the Cook and Stewart families in the Logan Eleventh Ward where Gracia's Grandmother, Julia Stewart, served as Relief Society President and Jean Cook as secretary for many years. David Willard Cook became the beloved Bishop of the Eleventh Ward and of the Stewart family.
Bill and Gracia met at the Aggie College drink =ing fountain commonly called "The Pump". Her brothers, James Z. and Kingsley Stewart and Bill were fraternity brothers of the Delta Nu College Fraternity. They heartily approved of Bill. When Bill came to the Stewart home to pick up King, Bill made arrangements to pick up Gracia the next time. It was a distant courtship that first year while Gracia attended the University of Utah and Bill tended the herd near Stone, Idaho. Then when Gracia returned to teaching at the old Webster School in Logan, Bill found it easier to come home more often and give Gracia a ride home from school.
On a never-to-be-forgotten Valentines Day, Bill slipped a small white box into the pocket of a satin robe, wrapped and presented the package to Gracia and hastily left. He was shy and didn't come back for a while to find out if the diamond rings contained in the small white box were the right size. They were. Bill's Mother made the couple a wonderful wedding dinner and a huge cake which they thought would last them for months.
They were married on June 9, 1936 in the Logan Temple. Since Bill's Father had a small herd in Paradise Canyon, they spent a brief honeymoon there riding horses, cooking lamb, and enjoying a spick-and-span-newly-painted-orchid camp wagon, courtesy of David Willard Cook!
Bill turned to selling radios in Ogden on a commission basis. Like all his other ventures, he entered this one with energy and enthusiasm. The Christmas Eve of 1936 found him working until 4:00 a.m. with a Japanese man, single and alone, who was eager to hear a Tokyo broadcast.
Bill left radio selling and he and Gracia moved to a small upstairs apartment by the Cook home in Logan. Their first child, Carol Jean, was born in Logan on May 17, 1937. At that time, Bill was a salesman for Crystal Furniture. When the sale of the Stewart home made a small amount of capital available, Bill and his uncle Abraham Livingston, a former sheep man and brother of Jean Cook, set up a retail appliance business called the Northern Utah Electric. They worked diligently for about one year when the business folded.
Bill and Gracia's second child, David Stewart Cook, was welcomed into the family on September 20, 1938 in Logan, Utah. After his birth, the family moved to Salt Lake City for a job in a warehouse that seemed to promise a living at a wage of $80.00 per month. The next move was to Idaho Falls, Idaho on Carol Jean's second birthday. There Bill worked as manager of Lundahl's Tire Re-tread shop located on the North Yellowstone Highway. His next employment was a bookkeeper for an automobile agency and then on to selling fire and life insurance for Mutual of Omaha and Snake River Fire Insurance Co.
Idaho Falls was good to Bill and his little family. He initially rented a small white house with a fenced yard. Five years later he was able to make a down payment on a home of his own at 188 Third Street. Three more daughters were born in Idaho Falls. Maribeth, born on March 8, 1940; Julia Ann, born on January 26, 1944; and Anna Karine, born on June 3, 1947.
Bill was M.I.A. President when he was ordained a Bishop by John A. Widtsoe July 16, 1943. As Bishop of the Idaho Falls Fifth Ward, he engineered the completion of the fine chapel on Second Street, contributing much in labor and means. He grew in spirituality and ability to administer the affairs of the Ward and was called as first counselor in the Idaho Falls Stake Presidency with William Grant Ovard as President and Oscar Johnson as second counselor. How these men loved and respected each other! These new responsibilities were accepted and performed with dedication, vitality and humility and much growth and happiness resulted. A Stake farm was selected and purchased, crops planted, irrigated, weeded and harvested efficiently by a plan, largely Bill's, which allocated and organized each Ward with specific jobs and a time table to follow. The Stake farm prospered and was soon paid for. These activities covered the years 1943 to 1949 when Bill responded to an ad placed by the Deseret Land and Livestock Company which was seeking a livestock foreman for $500.00 a month. A steady income with a chance to work in the outdoors with livestock appealed to Bill, so he took the job and began to oversee part of the sheep operation in Skull Valley and East of Evanston.
In 1951, the family moved to Bountiful, Utah. At that time. Bill's oldest child, Carol Jean, was 13 and the youngest, Anna Karine, was age 3. During three great summers, the entire family was able to camp out in the Wasatch Mountains on the Livestock Company summer range for delightful and different experiences. Cousins were invited to stay and a great many activities took place, including hikes, horseback rides, and bonfires. At night the children slept in tents while Bill and Gracia stayed in a camp wagon. Bill rode and broke good horses, including a handsome palomino mare, the children had a safe old horse called Katie. How hot and sticky Bountiful seemed when the family came home to wash clothes and bathe.
After a time, Bill again turned to selling life insurance, and began selling for Commercial Travelers Insurance Company out of Ogden, Utah. Later Loyal Cook introduced him to the Investors Diversified Service organization and Bill changed to selling I.D.S. Mutual Funds. For several years Bill worked out of the Denver Office to service a territory in Western Colorado. Later he was assigned a district served by the I.D.S. Salt Lake office from which he worked until he "retired" in 1970. His family remembers the happy little jigs he did when a good sale was made and a money "salad" he once served on a silver platter. The money wasn't his to keep, but it looked beautiful.
During these years, Bill was active in the Bountiful First Ward. He taught the gospel doctrine class, numerous genealogy classes, instructed the home teachers, worked for years with the "Senior Aaronic" group and filled other callings. He was especially effective in fellowshipping and bringing inactive men into activity in the Church. These men loved and trusted him and many were made his good friends.
Bill's successful salesmanship was recognized with trophies, prizes, certificated plaques and trips. He won a Millionaires Club contest. The award was a trip to San Francisco in 1956, which he took with all the family. He and others were honored with speeches, dinners, entertainment and a grand ball held at the "Top of the Mark" in San Francisco.
At "retirement" in 1970, he again sought the life he loved, this time with his cousin Ray Cook and the Cook Sheep Co. in McKinnon, Wyoming. Once again the family enjoyed camping in the high Uintas, this time with some of Bill's grandchildren and a nephew, Dewey Cook. Bill tried to give each child a special experience teaching them how to ride and handle a horse, to herd sheep where the forage was best, keep a clean, camp, keep them selves clean and to enjoy the quiet beauty and peace that surrounded them.
In 1973 a second call came to serve a Mission in Germany. Bill was elated by the call. He had long hoped to fulfill another mission as his Father David Willard Cook had done while in his seventies.
Bill and Gracia entered the Language Training Mission in Provo, Utah in the Fall of 1973 to study German. This was very challenging, but Bill loved it. He memorized all eight of the missionary discussions in German before he and Gracia left for Hamburg, Germany on October 9,. 1973. Their assignment was Flensburg, located on the tip of North Germany between the Baltic and the North seas. The Branch President, Brother Schmidt, and two young missionaries were friendly and congenial and gave Elder D. Wm. and Sister Cook the help they needed to begin the work. Their assignment was to work to re-activate approximately 70 inactive members in a branch of about 100. The chapel was new and well-kept with a rose garden and a beautiful organ. Bill set up a schedule of contacting each inactive member and soon he and Gracia had walked over a great deal of Flensburg experiencing its different culture and climate, mostly rain!
On the 11th day of November, Bill had set up an appointment to show the Family Home Evening film to a split family. It was necessary to carry heavy equipment a long distance up a steep hill to the Church. This sustained exertion was too great for even his determination and stamina and he suffered a massive stroke a short while later, sitting beside Gracia in Flensburg Sunday School. He never regained consciousness, and died two days later, November 13, 1973.
Bill often spoke of his love for this beautiful earth and said he hoped the next world would be as wonderful. He enjoyed the smell of the sage after rain, the feel of a good horse under him, the beauty of the desert floor when spring time carpeted it with flowers, the welcome warmth of the sun at daybreak and the views from a high place on a hill. Bill especially enjoyed and took a special interest in each member of his family. He welcomed each new experience and was eager to turn the pages of life and see what was on the next page.
Bill loved the Lord and the Gospel of Jesus Christ and strove mightily to live his life in conformity with its high principles and "to be an influence for good" in the lives of those with whom he associated. He was a scholar of the scriptures and committed many scriptures to memory while driving. He loved and memorized good poetry, and the words to good music, and greatly appreciated the music of his daughters on piano and violin. He loved and served his family well.
David William Cook was buried in Fountain Green, Utah among the cedar-covered hills he knew and loved as a boy and near his loved ones, including his grandparents, William Francis Cook and Jane Booth, his parents, David Willard Cook and Jean Livingston, a younger brother Cecil and a nephew.
He has heard the words, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of my kingdom".
His life was a blessing, his memory a benediction.
Postscript by Hazel Cook
Bill was exceedingly happy and enthusiastic in having Gracia as his "chosen companion" to accompany him on his second mission to Germany.
After Bill's death in Germany, Gracia flew home alone and was met at the airport by all her children and many friends and relatives. We shall never forget the tiny, brave little figure as she deplaned. She has been and is a noble little woman, an ideal wife and mother, dedicated to the Gospel. She is truly an educated person with a talent and flair for good literature. Her influence has had a positive and enriching impact in the lives of her children and the hundreds of students who have enjoyed her care. She still serves in several church callings in addition to her work in the Salt Lake Temple and her loving service to her many grandchildren. Yes! her mission continues-as does Bill's.
All the children of D. William (Bill) and Gracia have college degrees and are high achievers in their chosen fields. All continue to serve the Lord and are teaching their children to walk uprightly.
Bill's Family - 1979
Gracia S. Cook is presently serving as education counselor in the Relief Society. She spends one day a week helping her paralyzed brother, Bill Stewart, attends the temple, does genealogy work, gives individual reading instruction for the Davis County School District and takes piano lessons. Whenever a new grandchild is born or there is sickness in the family, she is the first one there to serve and help. She is a shining example to her children. Her great love is expressed in service.
Carol Jean is serving as Relief Society President in Camarillo, California. She graduated from the University of Utah in Elementary Education with high honors and has completed course work towards her masters degree. Her husband has served twice as a Bishop. They have adopted five children and have a very happy family life incorporating daily scripture reading, practicing music, family prayer, setting goals with each child and singing together.
David Stewart has established a successful law firm, Law Offices of Cook and Crist, in Bountiful, Utah. His wife, Karen, assists part-time as office manager and secretary. In addition to their six children they have taken a lamanite girl into their home for a year and now plan to host a Japanese boy. Their son, David Allen, is serving as District Leader in the Japan Mission. Dad had a deep affection for this grandson. They were soulmates. Kevin Stewart is serving in the California, Ventura Spanish Speaking Mission.
Maribeth served as a missionary in Northern Germany, taught second grade and obtained a teaching assistantship at BYU until she graduated with a masters degree in counseling. Her husband established an electronics firm, Ivie Electronics, in Orem. They have six children.
Julia Ann served as Relief Society President in Kirkland, Washington for three years. She has an unusual ability to make friends and has greatly influenced the lives of the young girls in her ward, serving as their MIA Maid and Laurel Advisor. She is the mother of five children. Her oldest son is President of the Deacons Quorum and her daughters excel on the flute and violin.
Anna Karine (Kay) graduated from the U of U in CDFR. She has worked in the Head Start Program, Jewish Community Center and is presently working in the child-development lab at Holy Cross Hospital. She is the mother of three sons and is serving as the Cultural Refinement teacher in Relief Society.