Tressie Lavaune Scarborough Cook

Tressie Lavaune Scarborough Cook was born at home in Rosepine, LA, on February 9, 1937, and on April 28, 2023, three weeks after suffering the first of two strokes, died peacefully in her home in rural Natchitoches Parish, surrounded by her loving family.

Tressie played on the Rosepine High School basketball team and married her high school sweetheart, Grady Cook.  They were married 70 years.

Tressie was the perfect wife for an Air Force officer.  During Grady’s twenty-three-year military career, the family lived in eight states and enjoyed two tours in Germany.  With her amazing organizational skills, Tressie turned each of their more than 25 residences into a comfortable, tidy, and welcoming home within days.  When her three children were young, she would often take them swimming or to the beach in Florida.  She was tanned, stylish, and graceful.

When they retired from the military, Tressie and Grady lived near extended family at Canaan, a farm south of Natchitoches, where she enjoyed taking long walks and preserving fruits and vegetables.  She held a deep faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and was an active member of Grace New Testament Baptist Church.

Tressie was an excellent cook, a talented bridge player, and an avid dancer.  A gifted planner, she was always thinking ahead.  Although quiet and humble, Tressie took great pride in each of her family members’ accomplishments and cheered them on.  A kind person, she cared for the sick in their times of need.

Tressie was preceded in death by her parents, Mary and Carroll Scarborough, her brothers Welton and Melton Scarborough, her sister Teenie Garsee, and her grandson Everett Morgan.  She is survived by her husband, Grady Cook, her children Lequita Johnson of Natchitoches, Cindy Morgan (Leslie) of NW Arkansas, and Grady Cook Jr. (Rhonda) of Dallas, TX, her grandchildren Chris Goldman, Laura Trosen (Chris), Rachel Zobeck (Mark), Stewart Morgan (RoShunna), Grady Cook III (Britney), and Dylan Johnson, and her great grandchildren Audrey and Lydia Zobeck, Lewis, Chase, and Keziah Trosen, Rowan, Campbell, Landry, and Diamond Cook, and Amara Lea-Morgan.  She is also survived by her brother Ruble Scarborough (Phyllis), her sister Doretha Bond, and many other beloved relatives and friends.

Her nephew Edward Cook will preach at her service at the Blanchard St. Denis Funeral Home in Natchitoches, LA, on Tuesday, May 2^st, at 10 a.m., with visitation starting at 9 a.m.  Interment will be at the Northwest Louisiana Veterans Cemetery in Keithville, LA.

Chris Goldman, Stewart Morgan, Grady Cook III, Dylan Johnson, Chris Trosen and Mark Zobeck will serve as pall bearers. 

The family is deeply grateful for the prayers, calls, messages, meals, and visits received over the past three weeks.  In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.