Elnora L. (Howard) Cook, 91

Family and friends are invited to share in a memorial celebration of life for Elnora L. (Howard) Cook, 91, at noon on Saturday, Aug. 23, at the Sandpoint City Beach pavilion. Lunch will be provided.  

Those attending are asked to call Winston Cook at (208) 264-0176 so that family members can compile an approximate head count of attendees.

Elnora passed away on Monday, Oct. 29, 2007, in Sandpoint, Idaho.

Elnora was born Aug. 13, 1916 in Chickasha, Okla., to parents Elmer L. Howard and Sophronia T. (Johnson) Howard.

She graduated from high school in Oklahoma City, where she was active in swimming, and music as a singer and pianist.

Elnora started playing the piano in church as a young girl and she was able to play music by ear her whole life.

Elnora married Winston Cook on Dec. 25, 1935, and lived with him 62 years until his death in 1998.

They moved from Oklahoma to Detroit, Mich., after their marriage. Elnora and Winston had two children, Winston (Wynn) H. Cook and Dolora L. Cook (Deal).

Elnora completed a course at a secretarial and bookkeeping school, which was a skill she utilized for the rest of her life.

After World War II ended in 1945 the Cooks moved to Bonners Ferry, Idaho, where they bought what was to become Cook’s Electric and joined in a 25-year partnership with Ray Houck.

Elnora had a weekly call-in musical program called the Sue Cook show on Sandpoint radio station KSPT in the late 1940s where she played the piano and sang.

Elnora and Winston moved to the Sandpoint area after selling the family business in the mid-1970s and lived at their Bottle Bay cabin for a year until they built their home on the lake in Sandpoint.

They RV’d while in Sandpoint and then lived in Sun City West, Silver City, N.M., and Hood River, Ore., finally returning to Sandpoint in 1998 where her husband Winston died.

Elnora lived the last five years with her son’s family and her dog Rosie.

She was always active in making music and loving her extended family and friends.

In Bonners Ferry, Elnora was active as a homemaker and as a bookkeeper for the family business.

She also was a dance teacher, Bonners Ferry Methodist church choir director for more than 20 years, and P.E.O. Chapter member and community musician, both in Bonners Ferry and Sandpoint.

She is survived and lovingly remembered by her daughter Dolora Cook (Deal) in Sun Valley, Idaho, son Winston (Wynn) Cook at Trestle Creek Idaho, and grandchildren Wendy Deal in Bend, Ore., Ryan Deal in Littleton, Colo., and Spencer Cook in Trestle Creek.

Lakeview Funeral Home in Sandpoint is handling the arrangements.