Jimmy Cooke

James "Jimmy" Allen Cooke, Sr., 85, passed away Tuesday, February 3, 2009. He was a loving husband, father and grandfather. Jimmy was born January 8, 1924, in LaFayette, Georgia, the second of four children of Ethel Mae Allen and James Burton Cooke. A life long resident of Cleveland, he attended Arnold Elementary School and was a 1942 graduate of Bradley Central High School. He became a member of First United Methodist Church on April 9, 1939. A natural salesman, Jimmy began his career at age 9 selling newspapers and then Dooley?s ice cream from a horse and buggy. After high school, he went on the road selling ironing boards and later upholstered furniture. In 1958, Jimmy started his own upholstered furniture factory, Cooke Manufacturing Company. He was a charter member of Cleveland Associated Industries and active in the Tennessee Furniture Travelers Association. In 1984, Jimmy received the M.C. Headrick Free Enterprise Award. He also established a scholarship fund through the Cleveland State Community College Foundation. Jimmy Cooke is preceded in death by his parents, Ethel Mae Allen Cooke and James Burton Cooke; sisters and brothers-in-law, Elizabeth Alberta Cooke Disney and Herbert Forrest Disney and Lillian Catherine Cooke Livingston and Richard David Livingston; brothers-in-law: Bernice Eskridge King and wife, Rebecca and Ellis Norman King and wife, Dolores. He is survived by his wife, Annie Kathryn King Cooke of Cleveland; daughter Mary Lou Cooke George and husband, Robert of Cleveland; son, James Allen Cooke, Jr. and wife, Pam of Cleveland; sister, Anna Mae Cooke Bauer and husband, Ralph of San Marcos, California; sister-in-law, Ruby Martha King Hughlett of Covington, Tennessee; grandchildren: Lauri Ann George Soong and husband, Weily of Birmingham, Alabama, Sarah Elizabeth George Wessel and husband Keith of Bloomington, Illinois, Kellie Marie Cooke of Cleveland, James Allen Cooke, III and wife Amber of Cleveland; step-granddaughter, Emorie Lindy Finnell of Cleveland; great-granddaughter, Kathryn Ann Soong of Birmingham, Alabama; and many nieces and nephews. The funeral will be held at 2 p.m. Friday, February 6, 2009 in the chapel of Ralph Buckner Funeral Home with the Revs. Drew Henry and Leann Crandall officiating. Interment will follow in Sunset Memorial Gardens with a white dove release ceremony concluding the service. Pallbearers will be James Allen Cooke, III, Robert George, Weily Soong, Matthew Freytag, Kurt Schnebel and Joe Kirkpatrick. His family will receive friends from 5-8 p.m. Thursday, February 5, 2009 at the funeral home. Memorials may be made to the First United Methodist Church, 3425 North Ocoee Street, Cleveland, TN 37312 or the American Heart Association, 519 East 4th Street, Chattanooga, TN 37403. We invite you to send a message of condolence and view the Cooke family guestbook at www.ralphbuckner.com.