Deborah Cook

She leaves behind two stubborn and smart-mouthed daughters, an angel of a son (her favorite child - it’s fine, we knew), a LOT of random clothing, blingy jewelry, multiples of every kind of cookware and cleaning machinery known to Walmart, and a lot of friends and family that will miss her dearly.

Despite being in intense pain for quite some time, Deborah spent the vast majority of her life caring for others - whether her sweet son, Jeremy Cook who was on her mind all of the time or the incessantly needy customers returning their crap to Walmart. She spent time getting to know everyone she met and if you’ve been to the Lee’s Summit Walmart in the last 22 years you can kindly curse her for the long lines wrapping around the checkout registers. She knew no strangers. Her fellow co-workers described her as the “go-to” for every kind of ridiculous problem they were presented with by a customer. Need to know if you can return your 28 year old VHS player? Where’s Deb. Someone brought in an empty box of tampons once claiming they were defective. Where’s Deb. Even the nurses and support staff at Centerpoint Medical Center where she spent a significant amount of time over the last 12 months advocating for Jeremy knew and asked about her fondly. She was a force of nature.

Deb was well-known for her love of baking and cooking. To enjoy a meal with or receive a loaf of home baked bread from her was to know she loved you. Deb did not know how to cook for two. Or three, or ten. She cooked to feed a village - and a village we were. If she was making dinner you knew not to eat breakfast… or lunch and to put your “fat pants” on because it was going to be THAT good. Everyone knew not to rush her in the kitchen - her meals were prepared with love and her love took time. BYOT (Bring Your Own Tupperware) rules were strongly enforced. If you were invited, you WILL take home at least enough food to last your entire extended family three days. And you will like it.

Deb is survived by her sister and brother-in-law, Alice and Larry Self; her children, Jeremy Cook (44), Jana (39) & Bryant Jeffery, and Aimey Cutburth (37); her grandchildren, Dallas Cook (23), Stephen Jeffery (22), Michael Urton (19), Morgan Briggs (18), Alexander Cook (17), Collin Martin (13), and Kai (Hannah) Jeffery (11); and her nephews, Allan Self & Greg Grisham; along with many, many, MANY cousins. She was preceded in death by her fearless mother, Helen “Nana” Shafford; her Grandmother, Ruby Powell; her Aunt, Dorothy Cooper; her Aunt Peggy and Uncle George Robison; her Uncle, Glenn Foster; her Uncle Gilbert Foster; and her cousins, Anna Herzog, Sharon McNamara, Patricia Foster, Billy Robison, and Cheryl Robison.

Deborah’s Memorial Services will be held on Friday, September 6th at Newcomer’s Floral Hills Funeral Home located at 7000 Blue Ridge Blvd, Kansas City, MO. Visitation is at 1pm followed by Services at 2pm. Her visitation will be accompanied in song by her most treasured musicians: Rod Stewart, Cher, Prince, Adam Lambert, George Michael, Tom Petty and a few others that she would regularly belt out along with. While her shoulder rollin’, seat dancin’, foot tappin’ days are no longer; she’d be proud to see all of her friends and family enjoying a good tune in her memory.

In lieu of flowers the family asks that you instead make a donation to the Cerebral Palsy Foundation (https://www.yourcpf.org/) in her and Jeremy’s honor. Let’s continue her advocacy work and help other families with similar challenges.