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September 14, 2011
Services
Friends may visit with the family on Monday, September 19, 2011 from 2-4 and 7-9 PM at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne.
Funeral services will be held Tuesday, September 20, 2011 9 AM from the funeral home then to Our Lady of the Valley RC Church, 630 Valley Road, Wayne where a 10 AM Funeral Mass will be offered.
Entombment will be in Gate of Heaven Cemetery, East Hanover.
William “Bill” R. Cooke, age 83 of Wayne died peacefully on Wednesday, September 14, 2011.
He was born and raised in Jersey City and graduated from Dickinson High School in Jersey City with the Class of 1946.
At the age of twelve he moved in with his aunt Lilly and worked for his Uncle John at the Aacon Contracting, Inc. in the Red Hook Section of Brooklyn, NY. He met the love of his life, Edith Laffan, who was working at the ice cream parlor just around the corner from Aacon Contracting. The story goes, that there was a young kid that hung around Aacon and mentioned to Bill that "If you want to meet the best looking girl in Brooklyn, she works at the local ice cream parlor." He took a chance and went and met who would become his future bride. He often told us he asked her if she would like to go for a malted. He would often tease her how she could not have said "yes" fast enough. The rest is history. They were married on December 12, 1949 at St Paul of the Cross RC Church in Jersey City. They lived in Jersey City before moving to Wayne in 1957.
Bill started the New Jersey Valley Amusements Company in 1954 and was very proud of a successful family business that is still flourishing today. He was a strong, honest, dedicated, caring, hard working man that thought with his heart. He loved his trips to Florida and to Saratoga, NY.
Bill was a parishioner of Our Lady of the Valley RC Church, Wayne.
He was the beloved husband of sixty-two years to Edith (Laffan) Cooke; devoted son of the late Charles and Helen (Eckert) Cooke; loved father of William Cooke of Wayne, the late Robert Cooke(2008) and his surviving wife Donna of Wayne; Edith “Honey Bun” Miller of Wayne and her late husband Sammy(2002); Gary Cooke of Wayne, the late Linda Cooke(1963); Brian Cooke and his wife Judi of Wayne, Nancy Spetz and her husband Charles of Oak Ridge, Marilyn Gabriel of Wayne and her late husband Albert(2009), John Cooke of Wayne, and Jennifer Cooke of Wayne; cherished Grandfather to Vanessa Cooke, Terence Cooke, Donna (Cooke) Macrone and her husband Gabe, Aimee Cooke, Katie Cooke, Meghan Cooke, Natalie and Albert Pelosi, Nicholas Miller, Edie Mae Miller, Linda Miller, Jennifer Jones, the late William Cooke (2005), Nancy Spetz, Heidi Spetz, Charlie Spetz, Sara Spetz, John Spetz, Steven Spetz, Gwendoyln Spetz, Alexa Gabriel, and Lily Gabriel and three great grandchildren Juliet Cooke, Natalie Pelosi, and Destiny Mcpherson; loving brother of Charles “uncle cookie boy” and his wife Maggie Cooke of Long Island, NY, and Gloria Mayer and her husband Bob of Cape Coral, FL.
In lieu of flowers memorial donations to Wayne Fire Company #2, Myrtle Ave, Wayne, NJ 07470, Wayne First Aid Squad, PO Box 2004, Wayne, NJ 07474, Wayne Foundation for the Handicapped, 30 Woodridge Terrace, Wayne, NJ 07470, or the ALS Association, Development Dept., 27001 Agoura Rd., Suite 250, Calabasas Hills, CA 91301 would be appreciated.
If you would like to send a private condolence directly to the family use this condolence section.
Friends may visit with the family on Monday, September 19, 2011 from 2-4 and 7-9 PM at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne.
Funeral services will be held Tuesday, September 20, 2011 9 AM from the funeral home then to Our Lady of the Valley RC Church, 630 Valley Road, Wayne where a 10 AM Funeral Mass will be offered.
Entombment will be in Gate of Heaven Cemetery, East Hanover.
September 14, 2011
Services
Friends may visit with the family on Monday, September 19, 2011 from 2-4 and 7-9 PM at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne.
Funeral services will be held Tuesday, September 20, 2011 9 AM from the funeral home then to Our Lady of the Valley RC Church, 630 Valley Road, Wayne where a 10 AM Funeral Mass will be offered.
Entombment will be in Gate of Heaven Cemetery, East Hanover.
William “Bill” R. Cooke, age 83 of Wayne died peacefully on Wednesday, September 14, 2011.
He was born and raised in Jersey City and graduated from Dickinson High School in Jersey City with the Class of 1946.
At the age of twelve he moved in with his aunt Lilly and worked for his Uncle John at the Aacon Contracting, Inc. in the Red Hook Section of Brooklyn, NY. He met the love of his life, Edith Laffan, who was working at the ice cream parlor just around the corner from Aacon Contracting. The story goes, that there was a young kid that hung around Aacon and mentioned to Bill that "If you want to meet the best looking girl in Brooklyn, she works at the local ice cream parlor." He took a chance and went and met who would become his future bride. He often told us he asked her if she would like to go for a malted. He would often tease her how she could not have said "yes" fast enough. The rest is history. They were married on December 12, 1949 at St Paul of the Cross RC Church in Jersey City. They lived in Jersey City before moving to Wayne in 1957.
Bill started the New Jersey Valley Amusements Company in 1954 and was very proud of a successful family business that is still flourishing today. He was a strong, honest, dedicated, caring, hard working man that thought with his heart. He loved his trips to Florida and to Saratoga, NY.
Bill was a parishioner of Our Lady of the Valley RC Church, Wayne.
He was the beloved husband of sixty-two years to Edith (Laffan) Cooke; devoted son of the late Charles and Helen (Eckert) Cooke; loved father of William Cooke of Wayne, the late Robert Cooke(2008) and his surviving wife Donna of Wayne; Edith “Honey Bun” Miller of Wayne and her late husband Sammy(2002); Gary Cooke of Wayne, the late Linda Cooke(1963); Brian Cooke and his wife Judi of Wayne, Nancy Spetz and her husband Charles of Oak Ridge, Marilyn Gabriel of Wayne and her late husband Albert(2009), John Cooke of Wayne, and Jennifer Cooke of Wayne; cherished Grandfather to Vanessa Cooke, Terence Cooke, Donna (Cooke) Macrone and her husband Gabe, Aimee Cooke, Katie Cooke, Meghan Cooke, Natalie and Albert Pelosi, Nicholas Miller, Edie Mae Miller, Linda Miller, Jennifer Jones, the late William Cooke (2005), Nancy Spetz, Heidi Spetz, Charlie Spetz, Sara Spetz, John Spetz, Steven Spetz, Gwendoyln Spetz, Alexa Gabriel, and Lily Gabriel and three great grandchildren Juliet Cooke, Natalie Pelosi, and Destiny Mcpherson; loving brother of Charles “uncle cookie boy” and his wife Maggie Cooke of Long Island, NY, and Gloria Mayer and her husband Bob of Cape Coral, FL.
In lieu of flowers memorial donations to Wayne Fire Company #2, Myrtle Ave, Wayne, NJ 07470, Wayne First Aid Squad, PO Box 2004, Wayne, NJ 07474, Wayne Foundation for the Handicapped, 30 Woodridge Terrace, Wayne, NJ 07470, or the ALS Association, Development Dept., 27001 Agoura Rd., Suite 250, Calabasas Hills, CA 91301 would be appreciated.
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