Linda Ruth Cook

Linda Ruth Stephens Naquin Cook was born in Shreveport, Louisiana on October 11, 1940 to Avice Katherine Coleman Stephens and Wendell Richardson Stephens, Sr. She grew up in Shreveport and graduated from Fair Park High School in 1958. After leaving Shreveport, the odyssey of her life took her to Longview, Montgomery (Alabama), Dallas, Tyler and finally to Austin. She spent several years working at Sanger Harris as a sales associate and assistant buyer and also worked as an administrative assistant for Redman Homes.

However, Linda's true calling was that of a devoted wife and mother and she will live forever in the hearts of her husband, children, and grandchildren as well as extended family and friends. For over 53 years, she used her exceptional creativity in the arts of homemaking to create a home filled with love, beauty, and good food. She loved to cook and had a large collection of cookbooks of all types of cuisine; she will always be remembered for the many delicious meals she cooked and for her insistence that no one ever leave her table hungry. She was also an accomplished seamstress and spent many happy hours making clothes for herself and her family as well as beautiful quilts and embroidered linens for her home. Linda also enjoyed gardening and was a member of the Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center for many years. Together with her husband Ed, she created a beautiful garden and refuge for birds and other wildlife in her backyard. Other hobbies included scrapbooking, cross stitch, genealogy and traveling.

Linda's children remember her as a selfless and devoted mother, who sacrificed her time and energy whenever needed to help her children past the emotional crises and other challenges of childhood, adolescence and adulthood. She loved her children unconditionally and was a great source of love and comfort to all of them. She was also a devoted and generous grandmother who loved her grandchildren dearly and delighted in spending time with them.

Linda passed away on May 12, 2012 at Hospice Austin's Christopher House after a long illness. She is survived by her husband, Edwin Cook of Austin, by her daughter and son-in-law, Denise and David Wright and grandchildren, Kevin and Conor Wright of Irving, by her son and daughter-in-law, Stephen and Amy Naquin and grandchildren Preston Stephens and Trevor Naquin of Lewisville, by her son Chris Naquin of Austin, and by her brother Wendell Stephens, Jr. of Sacramento, California. A rosary in her memory will be recited at 6:00 P.M. at Weed-Corley-Fish Funeral Home, 2620 S. Congress Avenue on Monday, May 14.

A Requiem Mass will be celebrated at 2:00 P.M. on Tuesday, May 15 at St. John Neumann Catholic Church, 5455 Bee Cave Rd. A graveside service is scheduled for 11:00 A.M. at Forest Park East cemetery, 3700 St. Vincent Ave., Shreveport, Louisiana.

Memorials can be made to:

• Help research into reducing the number of people in the future from going through what Linda endured: Pulmonary Hypertension Association, (www.phassociation.org).

• Help patients and families deal with end of life, however it may come: Hospice Austin and their Christopher House (www.hospiceaustin.org).

• Help brighten the environment and the lives of all: Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, a favorite place of Linda's. (www.wildflower.org).

• To help advance the lives of people for whom the concept of brightness has little visual meaning: Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (www.tsbvi.edu).