Sally Bennett Cook

Sally Bennett Cook, 83, passed away peacefully on Friday, January 10, 2020 at Dodge Park Rest Home, Worcester, MA, a memory care retirement home.   Daughter of Dorothy E. and Walter F. Bennett, she was born in Boston on April 29, 1936, and raised in Needham, MA and Weston, VT with her late sister Elaine Miller of Arrowsic, ME.

Sally's life embraced education and a love for children.  Graduating from Needham High School, Green Mountain College, Wheelock College, and Framingham State College, she achieved a Bachelor's degree in Early Childhood Development and a Master's degree in Guidance Counseling.   Shortly after being married in 1958, she and her husband, the late Donald Brown Cook, moved to Normandy, France where Donald was a U.S. Air Force Captain. There, she taught Kindergarten at the U.S.Air Force Base in Evreux, France.  After returning to the States, the couple’s two sons, Douglas Bennett and Duncan William Cook, were born.  Sally then taught Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten at the Charles River School, Dover, MA for many years. 

Sally's natural beauty and passion for life radiated from deep within her.  Over the course of her life, she lovingly cared for her husband, sons, parents, in-laws and aunts, and later her grandchildren.  Her extraordinary care for others extended into her professional life as well.  As a Kindergarten teacher, she founded the "Generation Connection" program in which lower school students were paired with elders in community nursing homes.  This led to her later vocation, namely organizing events and caring for elderly residents at the Cape Cod United Church Apartments, a retirement living community in Falmouth. She also served as Secretary, New England Elderly Housing Management Association (NEAHMA).

As a summer, and later permanent, resident of West Falmouth, she was an avid tennis player at the Harbor Head Tennis Club and the Falmouth Sports Center.  She was a board member of the Salt Pond Areas Bird Sanctuaries and a member of the Falmouth Garden Club where she encouraged Falmouth schools to enlist pupils as "Junior Gardeners."  In West Falmouth, she enjoyed beach-going and sailing as a member of the Bowerman's Beach Club and the Chapoquoit Yacht Club.  

In retirement, she enjoyed her family home in Weston, VT, where she was an enthusiastic cross-country and downhill skier, walker, hiker, gardener, and lover of art and music on the Vermont scene.    Together with her high school sweetheart-turned-husband, Donald, she was a frequent visitor to friends in their beloved France.  She also focused on caring for her grandchildren and reveling at their every step in life.  

A celebration of Sally's life will be held at the First Congregational Church on the Village Green in Falmouth, MA on Saturday, August 1, 2020 at 11:00 AM .   She is survived by her devoted son, Duncan W. Cook of North Dartmouth, MA; three grandchildren,  Noelle M. Cook, Peter B. Cook, and Katherine M. Cook all of the Boston area; a niece, Susan B. Miller of Victor, ID,  and a nephew, Todd G. Miller of Raleigh, NC.  She is pre-deceased by her husband, Donald B. Cook, her son, Douglas B. Cook, and her sister, Elaine B. Miller.  In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Alzheimers Foundation in Sally's name at ALZFDN.org

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