It is with sadness that the family of Dr. George Harvey Cook announce his death on April 2, 2016.
Our sadness is tempered by the gratitude of having been blessed by a loving and wise father, grandfather and great-grandfather for so many years.
Harvey (as he was called as a child) was born on October 11, 1922 in Urbania to Emily Dow and George Cook, the third of six children. He attended the local one-room schoolhouse where he graduated with grade 11, the highest level available at his school. He then began to work initially in the woods, harvesting sawlogs with a two bitted axe and yarding the logs to a sawmill with horses, and subsequently as a carpenter, acquiring many skills which served him well for the rest of his life. Along with his brothers, he enlisted during the Second World War. He served as a pilot with the Royal Canadian Air Force in Coastal Command, stationed in Pembroke Dock, Wales. There he met his beautiful Welsh bride-to-be Phyllis Ailsa Thomas.
Upon return to Canada, he began his studies at the Agricultural College in Truro, and then attended Dalhousie where he completed his medical training and began his family with two boys. Following graduation, he took his family on an adventure to the North West Territories, where he was the only physician in Fort Smith (the administrative capital of the NWT at the time), providing medical services for a huge area, often by bush plane. That was followed by a return to the United Kingdom, where he did a surgical residency in London for four years, graduating as a General Surgeon.
He then returned to Canada with his family (now increased to three boys and a girl), and began a long medical practice. Initially, as was usual at the time, he combined his surgical practice with an active general family medicine practice. Gradually, his surgical practice became very busy, and he reluctantly stopped his family practice. Two more boys were added to the family.
In his little spare time, George loved to be active. He developed a 900 acre woodlot into a very productive maple sugar operation (Maple Ridge Farm), after tapping 25,000 maple trees. He planted over 70,000 softwood trees, and with his sustainable forestry management practices, the wood lot gradually developed into an uneven-aged stand. His meticulous care was highly regarded and he was awarded recognition as the Central Nova Scotia Woodlot Owner of the Year in 2009.
Using his carpentry skills, George built a family cottage at Shortt’s Lake which has been a much loved and important gathering place for the family over the years.
He was pre-deceased by his wife Phyllis, and his siblings Bernie, Olive, Calvin, Murray, and Bill.
He is survived by his children Steven (Susan), Laurie (Linda), Roger (Olga), Jacqueline, Graham and David (Susan). He has 12 grandchildren: Christopher (Andria), David (Fiona) and Sarah Cook (Matthew), Jeremy (Deena), Jennifer (Barry), Robert (Sharai) and Adam Cook, Andrew and Lisa Cook, Alex, Stewart and Christine Cook. He has eight great-grandchildren: Emma, Becca, Alex, Finnley, Nova, Kira, Zach, Sol.
The family would like to extend a special thank you to his long time very able and compassionate caregiver Marilyn McNeil, occasional helper Kaye Delaney, and equally caring more recent caregivers Debbie Nielson and Shannon Power, and to his daughter Jacqueline who was there for him when he needed her.
At George’s request, there will be no formal or religious service. Instead, an informal gathering in fond remembrance will be held in the Colchester Community Funeral Home, 512 Willow St., Truro on Saturday, April 23 from 2-4pm, where everyone is welcome to join the family. Online messages of condolence may be sent to the family by visiting: www.ColchesterCommunity.com