Julia Bell Harmon was born at home in Arlington, Texas to James Wesley Harmon and Bessie Leola Starks on September 21, 1937.
She was the youngest of 8 siblings and grew up in deep poverty. From an early age she picked cotton in Oklahoma with her family for several months every year. She met her husband Charles Linon Cook while working as a carhop at a drive-in restaurant. They married on April 17, 1956, in Weatherford, Texas.
Judy was a devoted wife and homemaker and a loving mother. She worked hard to manage their home and raise three children with limited resources. Among other things, this included sewing homemade clothes, canning all sorts of foods and jellies, leading unruly Cub Scouts as a den mother, and working various jobs for extra income. When not working, she enjoyed bowling, playing cards and dominos with friends, sitting on the porch drinking iced tea and making homemade ice cream in the summer, and the occasional trip to Las Vegas or the racetracks in New Mexico.
Judy was a woman of grace and strength who endured and overcame many hardships in order to build a better life for herself and her family. She was truly a blessing to those of us in her life, and we will miss her greatly.
Judy is preceded in death by her husband, Charles Linon Cook; and her daughter, Cynthia Lynn Pair.
She is survived by her daughter, Kim Douglass; her son, Brian Cook and his wife, Tamara Cook; her sister, JoAnn Harmon; her grandchildren, Brad Pair and his wife, Colby Pair, Kaitlin Ritsema and her husband, Zachary Ritsema, Emily Cook and Jonathan Cook; her great-grandchildren, Adalyn, Audrey and Ainsley Pair; and numerous nieces and nephews.
Memorials in Judy’s memory may be given to SafeHaven of Tarrant County (www.safehaventc.org).
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