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822 Carl Russell Ave. Winston-Salem, NC 27101 Phone: 336-722-3459
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Betty Cook | 2022 | Obituary
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Betty Cook
“For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing.” 2 Timothy 4: 6-8
Betty Gesele Wolford Cook was born July 27, 1962 to Lorenza Wolford and the late Doris Hash Wolford in Winston-Salem, NC.
Betty attended the local public schools. She graduated from East Forsyth Senior High School class of 1980. She furthered her education at North Carolina Central University in Durham, NC majoring in Business Administration. Many of Betty’s early employment years were spent in healthcare administration. She worked several years at Forsyth Medical Center in the Cardiac Cath Lab and has remained close friends with her co-workers since she left. And it was the same wherever she went. But anybody who knew Betty knew that loyal, caring, giving friendship was second nature to her. She almost never met a stranger and on the rare occasion when she did, they weren’t strangers for long. Talk to anyone who knew her, and they will tell you the same thing, that you will not find a more genuine, self-sacrificing, enduring friend than Betty Cook.
1 John 3:17 says “If a person has enough goods to live well and sees a brother or sister in need, and does not help them, how can the love of God be in that person?” If Betty knew someone in need and she did not have in her power to help that person, she would not stop until she found someone who could. And that was Betty Cook. All the time.
Betty grew up in People’s Choice AME Zion Church (the name later changed to John Wesley AME Zion). She was very active in church as a child, teenager, and young adult, ranging from singing in the children’s choir, an active member of the Sunday school and Varick Christian Endeavor and vacation bible school. She tried ushering as a child but decided early on that it was not for her because you had to stand still, and you couldn’t talk. She gave that up shortly after she found out the particulars of the position.
To say that Betty loved her family is a huge understatement. The level to which Betty loved her family goes beyond words. Her nieces and nephews became her kids. And their love for her went far beyond “Aunt.” She was second mother to them all.
Betty married Samuel Cook on September 20, 1997, and from this union Samuel Sirod Cook, her only child, was born. Sirod is Betty’s masterpiece. Her crowning glory. There is a quote that says “There is an endearing tenderness in the love of a mother to her son that transcends all other affections of the heart.” That’s Betty. Another quote reads “There is one man that I love more than any other, he is my son.” That’s Betty and Sirod, that love will live forever.
On August 1, 2022, in the afternoon, after a brief illness at Forsyth Medical Center, God cradled Betty in His arms and carried her home.
Betty was preceded in death by her mother, Doris Hash Wolford; and her sister, Sherry Wolford Pharr.
She leaves to cherish her precious, unforgettable memories her son, Sirod; her husband, Samuel; father, Lorenza Wolford of W-S, NC; five sisters, Ava (Benjamin, Sr.) Morrow of Manning SC, Veronica Hash Price, Rebecca (Eric) Simon, and Mae (James) Oakes all of W-S, NC, and April (Nathaniel) Berry of Belews Creek, NC; one brother, Daniel Lorenza Wolford of W-S, NC; and a host of treasured nieces and nephews, as well as aunts, uncles, and many cousins and friends.
A viewing will be held from 1:00pm until 5:00pm Friday, August 5, 2022 at Russell Funeral Home.
Celebration of life services will be held at 12noon Saturday, August 6, 2022 at Goler Memorial AME Zion Church, 620 Patterson Ave. W-S, NC with Reverend Jerrell Leeper officiating. Interment will follow in Piedmont Memorial Gardens. The family visitation will be held from 11:00am until 12noon on Saturday at the Church.
A very special thank you is extended to the staff of ICU-3 (2nd floor) at Forsyth Medical Center on Silas Creek Parkway. Your special, loving and considerate care for Betty will never be forgotten. God bless you. A very special thank you to the cardiac cath staff who came to spend time with Betty every day. You all were like angels helping to keep watch over her. And Frankie, what can I say…you are priceless…and we thank you and love you for loving Betty. God bless you.
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