Roy Allen Cook, M.D., 96, went home to be with His Lord and Savior, dying peacefully in his sleep the morning of July 18, 2026.

He was born in Fisher, Louisiana on November 1, 1929 to Eddie Houston Cook and Exie Varah Westbrook Cook. He was their oldest son.

Roy attended Florien High School and graduated at age 16 as the valedictorian. He then went to Northwestern State College in Natchitoches, Louisiana, where he also finished as valedictorian. While there, he met the love of his life, Mary Alice Barber. Roy went on to attend LSU Medical School in New Orleans. During his time there, on July 27, 1952, he and Mary Alice married. After finishing medical school, Roy, now Dr. Cook, completed a rotating internship at Charity Hospital in New Orleans. He went on to begin a surgery residency at Confederate Memorial Hospital in Shreveport, Louisiana. He stopped his residency to volunteer for the United States Air Force. He served two years as a flight surgeon, based in El Paso, Texas. He deployed to South Dakota, London, Greenland, and Germany at various times during his service. Dr. Cook then returned to Shreveport and completed 2 more years of his surgery residency.

In 1959, Dr. Cook and his family moved to Natchitoches, Louisiana, where he joined the general medical practice of Dr. Ira L. Campbell. He practiced general medicine and surgery for 45 years before retiring. After a short time, Dr. Cook went back to work, this time as an Emergency Room doctor. He retired from this in 2000.

Dr. Cook professed faith in the Lord Jesus Christ at a young age and memorized copious amounts of scripture. As a young lad, the pastor of his church had him stand on a bench in front of the church and recite the book of John. Always a faithful student of God's word, in 1966, Dr. Cook became an elder of New Testament Baptist Church in Natchitoches, serving with Elder Ira Campbell and Elder Ralph Fell. He served and taught the word of God faithfully for many years. Even when macular degeneration took most of his sight, he continued to teach with enlarged notes and used his son-in-law, Matthew Axsom, to read the specific verses for him. Having a large number of scriptures memorized aided him in his sermon preparation and was a blessing to him in later life. Just 3 1/2 weeks ago, he quoted a large part of a chapter in the book of John to some of his family. Once he couldn't think as clearly as he'd like, he stepped down from teaching, but continued to attend the church services and continued to be a blessing to all in the congregation.

Dr. Cook learned to make furniture from a friend when he was in medical school. It became a lifelong hobby. Each of his children and many of his grandchildren have pieces of furniture in their homes that he made. He always kept a big garden, and helped Mary Alice "put up" all of the produce. He could shell purple hull peas faster than anyone!

Dr. and Mrs. Cook were avid bird-watchers. From taking their children to the meetings of the National Audubon Society to taking grandchildren on "birding trips" to far away places, they enjoyed seeing and identifying new birds and sharing the hobby with each other and their friends.

Dr. Cook was preceded in death by his wife, Mary Alice Barber Cook and all of his siblings: Reba, Mary, Grady, Mildred, Van Houston, Martha, and Elouise, and his grandson, Boaz Barber Squyres. Dr. Cook is survived by his four children: Mary Squyres and her husband, Merlin Squyres, Eunice Smith and her husband, Calvin Smith, Sarah Axsom and her husband, Matthew Axsom, and Edward Cook and his wife, Jeannie Cook. He is also survived by 22 grandchildren and 27 great-grandchildren.

Dr. Cook's family is deeply grateful for all of the prayers, calls, messages, and food shared over the last few weeks. In lieu of flowers, those wishing to honor Dr. Cook's memory may make donations to the Mexican Indian Training Center. P. O. Box 19422, Shreveport, LA 71149-9422.

A service to honor his life will be held at 10 am on Saturday, July 25, 2026 at Blanchard-St. Denis Funeral Home with Johnie Carter and Edward Houston Cook officiating.  Burial will follow at Russell Cemetery.  The family will receive friends from 4 pm until 7 pm on Friday, July 24th at Blanchard-St. Denis Funeral Home.

His grandsons are honored to serve as his pallbearers.