The family of Billy (Bill) Cook would like to say their final goodbyes to their husband, father, and grandfather. He lost a brief but valiant fight with cancer on Saturday, January 16, 2010. Bill was born in Charleston on October 6, 1939 to the late Ode Elmo Cook & Venita Irene (Brewer) Cook. He was 70 years old. He was the eldest of 9 children. Bill finished high school at Charleston in 1958 and joined the Army and then the Air Force. He retired from the Air Force in 1979. Bill went on to work as a policeman for the Department of Veterans Affairs for almost twenty years.

Bill and Jane Floyd were married in 1965 and moved quite a lot while in the military. They had three children, Kayla Cook Swoape of Woodbury, TN, Jana Cook of Little Rock, and Daniel Cook of Sherwood. They spent most of their lives together in the North Little Rock/Sherwood area. Despite one income, they were able to support all their children through college.

Bill was an avid baseball fan. He almost made the Major Leagues but for an arm injury his senior year in high school. He enjoyed baseball, country cooking, chocolate, and a quirky sense of humor. He was always looking for a rise from a backhanded comment. He loved his family and was loyal to a fault.

Bill is also preceded in death by two brothers, Jimmy and Emmett Cook and a grandson, Aidan Cook.

Funeral service will be 2:00 p.m., Tuesday, January 19th, at the Cornerstone Free Will Baptist Church in Bloomer, with the Rev. Jimmy Cook officating. Interment wil be at the Hickory Ridge Cemetery, north of Charleston, under the direction of the Brotherton Brothers Funeral Home in Charleston.

He is survived by his wife of 44 years, Jane Cook; his children, Kayla, Jana, and Daniel; grandchildren, Caytrin, Ashley, and Samantha Swoape and Alana and Ian Cook. He is also survived by his brothers and sisters, Donald Cook of Charleston, Doyle Cook of Spiro, OK, Frank Cook of Cabot, Terry Clark Cook of Lake Arrowhead, CA, Dinah Kaman of Van Buren, and Debbie Walker of Paris.

Pall Bearers will be Daniel Cook, Clifford Swoape, Donald Cook, Frank Cook, Dale Cook, Tony Kaman, and Doyle Cook.

Honorary Pall Bearers will be the Class of 1958.

Visitation will be 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Monday night at the funeral home.

To pay an online tribute, please visit www.brothertonbrothersfuneralhomes.com.