Marie Cook

Marie Carmela Cook

Marie Carmela (nee D’Alessandro) Cook, 91, passed away comfortably at her apartment.

Marie was happily married to Edward Cook for over 50 years and together they raised five children in Springfield. Three sons: Edward, Arthur, Peter and then two daughters: Anna Marie and Lisa.  Widowed in 2003, she rounded out her twilight years at Seabrook Village, Tinton Falls.

Marie and Ed had a comfortable marriage and an easy relationship with each other.  They enjoyed reading newspaper article excerpts to each other, going to the Springfield pool and sitting on the porch together during summer evenings.  Their marriage was a good example for their children and she couldn’t have been happier with the choices her family made in their spouses of Carol, Nancy, Lynn, Jack and John.

Nine grandchildren extended the family love onto a whole new generation. Erin, Stewart, York, Vivien, Dennis, Katie, Julianne, Adam and Grace.  Each child added a new element of joy and pride to her life.  She loved interacting w/ them in person, hearing about them from their parents and following them on social media.  Marie loved using the computer and was an early adopter of all things electronic.  Her grandkids each received a yearly birthday book with pictures and quotes from all their relatives.  The books were a real hit with each of the kids cherishing the time and effort it took to create them.  Marie was blessed to have one great-grandchild, Chloe who has set the bar high for future “Cookies”.

Marie lived for a long time at Seabrook and was one of 3 sisters who all lived on the same floor. Between Marie, Mickey and Pat – they seemed to know everyone at Seabrook and enjoyed being ambassadors for the company in welcoming prospective new residents.  She enjoyed her sisters very much.  Marie was also fortunate to make wonderful friends at Seabrook.  Her children used to joke that she was impossible to get in touch w/ because she was always out doing stuff.  She also got to know many of the Seabrook Staff and loved participating in resident life. Marie was well taken care of at Seabrook and her family is very grateful for the wonderful care she received.

Marie was someone who told things as they were – not how people wanted them to be and not how people pretended they were.  Despite her truthful nature, she was ever optimistic and believed in the power of positive thinking.  During our yearly beach week, the weather forecast always called for rain but Mom would just keep saying “it’s not going to rain”. And it never did.

When asked what she could change about her life if it were possible – Marie had two responses: she would have learned how to dance and wouldn’t have been such a “scaredy cat”.  Not a bad list for someone who lived a nice long life.

Advice passed down from our beloved mother, grandmother and Nana:

Pick a nice person as your partner.

Common sense is more important than IQ.

Don’t believe it when other people are constantly saying how great their lives are or how in love they are.

Those with nice lives and strong relationships don’t need to be constantly reminding others.

Always one ahead of her time, she said this over 35 years ago!
And finally - Just be yourself!