Larry E. Cook, Sr.

Larry E. Cook, Sr., retired minister of the United Methodist Church, of Valrico, Florida, died quietly the morning of December 21, 2014 after a year-long struggle with illness. Rev. Cook is survived by his wife, Trelaine Cook and her daughter, Vicki Renfroe; his sister Miriam Reeves; his former wife Nancy B. Cook; their daughters Laura Smith (Steven Smith), Libby Cook, Cathy Baker and son Larry E. Cook Jr.(Emilie Cook); grandchildren, in-laws, and a multitude of friends and close acquaintances. He was predeceased by his father, Allen J. Cook and mother Louise Cook.

He loved his family and was very proud of all of his grandchildren. He loved a good meal with great company. He loved meeting new people and seeing new places. He suffered often for his love of golf. He was a dyed red and black Georgia Bulldog football fan. He thought a high quality well-made pair of shoes was worth paying extra. He was generous and appreciative and valued a job well done. He loved jokes, puns and stories in both the telling and the hearing, and had a wry and intelligent sense of humor. He loved his Church.

Larry was born September 14, 1932 in Griffin, Georgia. He had a close connection with the United Methodist Church throughout his life. He attended Hanleiter Methodist Church in Griffin as a boy and attended annual homecoming trips to High Shoals, GA, where his parents were born and raised, and camp meetings at Mt Zion Methodist Camp Ground just outside of Griffin. He attended Griffin High School where he played on the Green Wave football team. After graduation in 1950 Larry attended North Georgia College for two years. In 1952 Larry, along with lifelong friends Jim Joiner and John Connelly, joined the US Navy and served for four years. Larry served aboard the USS Brownson, a Gearing class Destroyer, in communications and was honorably discharged at the rank of Chief Petty Officer. After leaving the Navy he returned to college at the University of Georgia. There he reconnected with Nancy Burks (Cook), whom he had dated and become engaged to before joining the Navy, and they married in 1957. Larry took a job with Mack Truck in Atlanta and completed his Baccalaureate degree in business at Georgia State University- taking night classes while working full time for Mack. In 1961 Mack asked Larry to take a position in Tampa, FL.

It was in Tampa in 1962 that he decided to devote his working life to ministry and he returned with his family to Atlanta to attend Emory University’s Chandler School of Theology for his Master of Divinity. While attending graduate school Larry was pastor of New Hope United Methodist Church on Moreland Avenue in Atlanta. After graduation in 1965 he returned to Florida where he was ordained in the Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church as Associate Pastor of First United Methodist Church of South Miami. He served there with Senior Pastor, and close friend, Jiles E. Kirkland (Jiles had been Larry’s pastor in Tampa at Manhattan Avenue United Methodist Church while Larry had worked with Mack). In 1967 Larry and his family moved to Cape Coral, FL, where he was appointed the pastor of Cape Coral United Methodist Church. In 1970 Larry moved his family home to Griffin, GA where he worked a circuit of smaller churches in the North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church. After a short time as Associate pastor of First United Methodist Church in Griffin, Larry returned to the Florida Conference as the Senior Pastor of First United Methodist Church in Palmetto, FL in 1972. He was also the senior pastor of North Naples United Methodist Church, Mandarin United Methodist Church of Jacksonville, Skycrest United Methodist Church of Clearwater, and Satellite Beach United Methodist Church before moving to the cabinet of the Florida Conference as a District Superintendent. Larry retired in 2000 but continued to be active in the Florida Conference as an interim pastor and lastly as Associate Pastor of Palma Ceia United Methodist Church with Senior Pastor, and close friend, Dr. Kevin James. His steadfastness and dedication to his family and his life’s work will be greatly missed.