Nicholas "Frank" Francis Cooke

Nicholas Francis "Frank" Cooke, 73, of La Grande died Dec. 11. Services will begin at 10 a.m. Friday at Loveland Funeral Chapel, 1508 Fourth St., La Grande. A reception will follow at St. Peters.

Frank was born April 9, 1936, to Nicholas Francis and Mary Louisa Thatcher Cooke in Holy Cross Hospital at Salt Lake City. His mother died when he was a young boy and his father was in the Marine Corps, so he and his younger brother were raised by grandparents in Salt Lake City.

On Nov. 6, 1952, he married Margaret E. "Peggy" Burns in a civil ceremony in Salt Lake City. In 1953 the couple moved to La Grande where their two children, son, Nick, and daughter, Cami, were born.

Frank was a member of the La Grande Masonic Lodge No. 41, the Royal Arch Masons, Scottish Rite, Allied Masonics and a past president of the Klamath Falls Shrine Club. On Jan. 18, 1983, he was ordained a deacon at St. Peters Episcopal church in La Grande. He served in this position until retirement in 2002.

His working years were spent in the advertising field for radio, newspapers and television, starting at KLBM in La Grande and then at The Observer. In 1964, Frank accepted a job offer at the Idaho Free Press in Nampa, Idaho. He was then transferred to Banning, Calif., where he was the advertising director, and then to Klamath Falls where he was employed at The Herald and News newspaper, KOTI-TV and KFLS radio. The family lived there for nine years.

In 1976 they returned to La Grande where he again worked for The Observer, and The Nickel until retiring.

Frank enjoyed reading, movies, history and attending sports events for his grandchildren. Those who knew him say he was a devoted family man, his proudest moments being those when he felt privileged to baptize his four grandchildren, and perform the wedding ceremony for his granddaughter, Kylie Ward, to her husband, Clyde Comisky.

Survivors include wife, Peggy; son, Nick and his wife, Betty Cooke, of Baker City; daughter, Cami and her husband, Ron Ward, of La Grande; four grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; brother, Gerald and his wife, Karen Cooke, of Tremonton, Utah; and several nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Neighbor to Neighbor or any other charity.

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