The Vicksburg Post prints obituaries in news form for area residents, their family members and for former residents at no charge. Families wishing to publish additional information or to use specific wording have the option of a paid obituary.

Virginia Byrd Brabston Cook

Mrs. Virginia Byrd Brabston Cook, 97, passed away Saturday, March 29, 2008, in Vicksburg.

A funeral service will be held at 10:30 a.m. April 1, 2008, at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church in Bovina. Visitation will be from 5 until 8 tonight at Fisher Funeral Home, 1830 Cherry St., Vicksburg, and from 9:30 until 10:30 a.m. April 1 just prior to the funeral service at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church, 5930 Warriors Trail, Vicksburg. The Very Rev. Ann Whitaker will be officiating at the services, with Dr. Richard Price as lay reader and Mrs. Dorothy Brasfield as organist. Interment will follow at Cedar Hill Cemetery.

Mrs. Cook was born in Bovina on May 30, 1910, to John Bryan and Zella Byrd Brabston. She graduated from Bovina High School and attended Mississippi State College for Women at Columbus. In 1926, she married Aquilla Bowie Cook. After experiencing the 1927 flood and its aftermath in the Mississippi Delta, the couple moved to Meadville, Miss., and later to Natchez, Miss., where Mrs. Cook lived until her husband’s death. In 1957, after her mother’s death, she moved to Bovina to live with her father at Flowers. Mrs. Cook was a lifelong member of St. Alban’s Episcopal Church, where she sang in the choir for many years, actively participated in Episcopal Women activities in the Vicksburg area and attended services regularly.

Mrs. Cook was also a member of the Natchez and Edwards Garden clubs. She cared for her father and his sister, Mrs. Virginia Brabston Johnson, in the latter years of their lives.

Mrs. Cook shared a wealth of knowledge of Bovina history. She could recall dates, genealogy, events and lore and enjoyed telling these things and answering questions for those who were interested. One of her favorite stories was the naming of Bovina, which she had learned from an old newspaper clipping saved by her grandmother — A Mr. Cowan was one of the very first settlers in the Bovina area. When he was considering a name for the area, he first thought of Cowana, and then decided he would use the Latin word “bovine” for cow and called it “Bovina.”

Mrs. Cook was preceded in death by her husband; her parents; a son, John Brabston Cook Sr.; and a granddaughter, Nancy Cook Winters.

She is survived by a daughter, Camille Robinson of Richmond, Va.; a son, Theodore Stewart “Ted” Cook of Jackson; a daughter-in-law, Irene Cook of New Hebron, Miss.; seven grandchildren, Laura Virginia Cook Beiser (Mike) of Clinton, Dr. Eleanor Cook Turnage (Glenn) of New Hebron, John Brabston “Brab” Cook Jr. (Brenda) of Vicksburg, and Beth Robinson (Buddy), James Prince Robinson (Margaret), Bryan Robinson (Mary Francis) and Camille Robinson Powell (John), all of Petersburg, Va.; 18 great-grandchildren; and five great-great-grandchildren.

Pallbearers will be Joshua Brabston Cook, James Bryan Bailey, Benjamin Goins, Jared Harper, Mike Beiser, Glenn Turnage and Bobby Breland.

Honorary pallbearers will be Bryan Willis Brabston, Newell Brabston, Dr. Jim Price, Dr. Richard Price, Jim Butler, Dick Reed and John Bowen III.

A special thanks to the many friends, family and caregivers who assisted in making her later years comfortable and happy.

In lieu of flowers, friends may make donations to St. Alban’s Episcopal Church in Bovina, 5930 Warriors Trail, Vicksburg, MS 39180.