Wilmer Loyd Cook

Wilmer Loyd Cook, 96, of Enterprise, died Aug. 9 in Council, Idaho. A celebration of his life was held Aug. 15 followed by burial at Alder Slope Cemetery. Bollman Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Wilmer was born to Lee and Arlie (Brock) Cook Sept. 4, 1912, and spent the majority of his life in Enterprise. He lived on Alder Slope where his motto was "too rocky to hoe" relating to his love of gardening.

Wilmer began his schooling at Swamp Creek/Elk Creek School of rural Enterprise and continued his education through the eighth grade. He then began working numerous farm jobs throughout rural Enterprise, until he was drafted into the U.S. Army on April 9, 1942. He served three years and four months during World War II, obtaining the rank of CPI Tech 5 and receiving nine conquest stars.

Upon discharge from the Army on Aug. 31, 1945, he married Mary Catherine Gillham in La Grande on Sept 23, 1945. "Katie" as Wilmer most often called Mary, remained the love of his life until her death on Dec. 11, 2001. In 1947 he went to work for the U.S. post office as an Enterprise rural mail carrier until he retired in 1973.

He spent his retirement years with hobbies including gardening, collecting out-of-print books, gold panning, huckleberry picking, bee keeping, collecting old songs, milking his Jersey cows (up until he was 92 years old) and making hand-crafted juniper checker boards (he had made 112 at last count and never sold even one but enjoyed donating them for benefit auctions or to "give to anyone that ask for one") and beating anyone willing to challenge this master checker player to a game.

Gardening, on the rocky slope, was a particular challenge, but one that Wilmer and Mary loved to engage in. They grew a beautiful garden with numerous rows of raspberries with new rows being added each year. One infamous year, they produced 106 flats of nice big berries. When they opened the patch up for "you-pick," he enjoyed visiting with anyone who would come pick and always had a story at the ready.

He never entered anything in the fair but had a big smile when he saw the purple ribbons that he won on the numerous exhibits that daughter Joyce would gather and enter for him.

Wilmer was an active and outstanding member of the community in and around Enterprise up until his death. He was a member of the First Baptist Church for more than 60 years.

He was an active member of VFW and a member of 1st Engineer Special Brigade Assn 531st Engineer Shore Regiment, the National Rifle Association and the Rural Letter Carriers Association.

Wilmer and Mary were always willing to go that extra mile for others over the past 20-plus years when they have offered the opportunity of their acreage to any 4-H or FFA member who lived in town to raise fair animals. His generosity and work earned him a distinguished service award in 2005, and honorary chapter degree in 2006 from Enterprise FFA.

He is survived by brother, Wayne Cook of Enterprise; sons and their spouses, John and Sharon of Pendleton and Fred and Bertie of La Grande; daughters and their spouses, Joyce and Steven Zollman of Enterprise, Doris and Kent Miller of Brookings and Donna and Paul Bates of Condon; and 14 grandchildren; 21 great-grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Mary; parents; three sisters; one brother; and two granddaughters.

The Wilmer & Mary Cook Agricultural Memorial scholarship has been set up at The Bank of Eastern Oregon.

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