Willie Rue Cook

Mrs. Willie Rue Black Cook, 91, formerly of the Decatur area passed away on Friday May 10, 2013 in Shelbyville, TN after living with Alzheimer's disease for several years. A native of DeKalb Co; she was born the second child of attorney, Dock Felton Black and Etta Mae Smith Black. Rue grew up in Avondale Estates and the Decatur area, attending Avondale schools and graduated from Avondale High School. She married Clarence Cook of Decatur on Easter Sunday 1942 at Fifth Ave. Baptist Church. The couple relocated to Birmingham, AL where Clarence was employed during World War II by the Seaboard Airline Railroad. While in Birmingham, Rue worked for the Bell-McCone-Parsons Aircraft Co. helping to produce bomber planes for the war effort. The couple returned to Atlanta in 1944 and Rue later worked for Georgia State Guard, until the birth of their first child in 1948. Rue was a devoted loving wife, mother and later grandmother, watching closely over her children. She was active in church and Sunday School her entire life, teaching at Fifth Avenue Baptist Church, White Oak Hills Baptist Church and finally at Avondale Estates First Baptist Church, where she has been a member for over 25 years. In her later years she especially enjoyed volunteering in the church library as well as the Community Food Pantry, Community Clothes Closet and charitable organizations sponsored by the church. A dedicated Child of God, she was devoted to family, friends and neighbors and was loved by all that knew her. She was preceded in death by her husband, Clarence Cook; sister, Melrose Conyers and her brother, D. F. Black. She is survived by her daughter, Rebecca Higgins of Snellville; daughter and son-in-law, Deborah and Boyce Gault of Dunwoody; son and daughter-in-law, Farris and Deborah Cook of Alpharetta; grandchildren, Tad Starnes, Joy Higgins, Colin Higgins, Jon Biren, Morgan Cook and Madison Cook. Funeral services will be held 2:30 pm, Friday, May 17, at the First Baptist Church of Avondale Estates, with Rev. Clay Bowden officiating. Interment, Hardeman Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery, 3965 Glenwood Rd, Decatur. The family will receive friends 6-8 Thursday evening at A. S. Turner and Sons Funeral Home and Crematory.

Funeral Home:
A.S. Turner
2773 N. Decatur Road
Decatur, GA
30033