Charlotte Anne Cook

charlotte cook

April 4, 1929 ~ December 19, 2024

Born in: Atlanta, Georgia
Resided in: Decatur, Georgia

“Giving, not getting, is the way. Generosity begets generosity.”

The Gospel of Mark 4:25

Charlotte Gaulding Cook passed away peacefully on December 19, 2024. Charlotte was born on April 4, 1929, six months before the Stock Market Crash of 1929 that ushered in the Great Depression. Charlotte was the only child of John I. Gaulding and Katherine Shugart Gaulding and resided in Buckhead her entire life. Throughout her life of service, Charlotte learned well the meaning contained in Mark 4:25.

In her parents’ circle of friends, many simply chose not to have children due to the challenges presented by the Great Depression. Young Charlotte Anne became “everybody’s child.” Similarly, as her mother, Katherine, was the oldest of six children spread over 20 years, Charlotte counted her family playmates as both aunts and uncles – her mother’s youngest siblings and her cousins – her mother’s older sibling’s children. This spotlight shone on her at an early age helped form her understanding of generosity as she learned that being the center of attention was best served by liberally sharing, not hoarding, her gifts and her love with everyone she encountered. Giving attention to others, not getting it for herself was the way.

At the age of ten, she joined Covenant Presbyterian Church, a decision that would further shape her understanding of generosity for the next eighty-five years as a member of Covenant. Active in the life of Covenant as a teenager, Charlotte graduated from North Fulton High School and attended the University of Georgia. At Georgia, Charlotte served as President of Alpha Omega Pi sorority and was a member of the Panhellenic Council. Charlotte graduated from UGA in 1950 with a degree in Home Economics and was hired as a teacher at Washington Seminary, an Atlanta girl’s preparatory school, which merged three years later with Westminster Schools.

Prior to her graduation from Georgia, one of her classmates and lifelong friend, Kitty Fisk of Augusta, asked her to be a bridesmaid in her wedding to Calvin Hopkins, a strapping young man from Orlando, Florida. It was during the wedding festivities that she met one of Cal’s best friends, also from Orlando, named Dick Cook. Charlotte and Dick fell head over heels for each other and, following a three year, long distance relationship between Dick, a Florida Gator, and Charlotte, A Georgia Bulldog, the two were married in 1951. Charlotte and Dick would remain lifelong “family” with Kitty and Cal, as well as a third Orlandoan, Don Crenshaw and his wife, Jean. Charlotte’s children speak of the difficulty of describing the relationship between the three families as they felt that Kitty and Cal and Donald and Jean were more like aunts and uncles than family friends. All of their children felt a cousin-like connection to one another.

At the start of the 1953 school year at Washington Seminary, Charlotte was asked to resign her teaching position as it was inappropriate at that time for a teacher to be pregnant at the all-girls school. In April of 1954, Charlotte and Dick welcomed the first of her three children, Kay, followed by two sons, Rick and Chris. Over the next fifteen years she devoted her full attention to raising her children. Charlotte could always be counted upon to be the first to sign up for room mother, to help with PTA, or to support her children’s activities. Her daughter Kay would often relate how selfless Charlotte was in her service. When Kay was nine, she joined her local Girl Scout Brownie troop and Charlotte immediately volunteered to be the Brownie adult leader. This leadership position lasted for several years. A number of years later Kay and Charlotte confessed to one another that each of them only remained in the troop because they thought the other genuinely enjoyed scouting activities; neither really did.

In 1969, Charlotte returned to the workforce when she and Dick had the opportunity to join Don and Jean Crenshaw in the purchase of a condominium under construction in Ormond Beach, Florida. Ormond Holiday Club, Unit 13, became, and continued up until her death, to be Charlotte’s “happy place.” It was here that she could share beach time with her parents, her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. She served multiple terms as the president of the condominium association and she and Dick oversaw the repair and remodel of the condominium when four hurricanes struck the development in the early 2000s. Prior to her passing, Charlotte was the last living original owner at Ormond Holiday Club.

Charlotte’s return to the workforce was to a company with which she was very familiar. Her father had worked for Retail Credit Company, now Equifax, for fifty years and Charlotte joined the company working in its data flow operations. Gifted with strong mathematical and logical skills, and the experience of raising three children, Charlotte quickly assumed greater responsibility. At the time of her retirement, she led a team that used innovative technology to screen driver records to help insurance companies underwrite rates for drivers with multiple traffic violations and accidents. This rating, in turn, helped drivers with clear records enjoy lower insurance rates. Charlotte retired from Equifax with 25 years of service in 1994.

While Charlotte was always generous with her time and talent, it was in retirement that the depth of her generosity fully manifested itself. During this period of her life, she served in leadership roles at Covenant and she and Dick could always be counted on to volunteer and to contribute financially to the mission of Covenant. While neither sang in the choir, they were ardent supporters of the music ministries. They were equally invested well into their late seventies in the youth of Covenant. Charlotte also had the gift of supporting each new pastor at Covenant and found the perfect balance between offering guidance on the rich history and culture of Covenant while extending a grace that allowed each pastor to fully offer their gifts to the congregation and community.

Charlotte also experienced her greatest joy in her role as Gramma to her three grandchildren and her four great-grandchildren. She was the greatest cheerleader for each of them. She shared her love of sewing with her granddaughters. She was the first to contribute to every fundraiser at her grandchildren’s schools and community activities and could always be found in the first few rows of every performance, recital, or athletic event. Her grandchildren’s friends witnessed this generosity of time and treasure and knew Gramma and Jim Jam (as Dick was called) by name. Her grandson, Ben, recalls a time when Gramma and Jim Jam visited Washington and Lee University. Ben was a member of the football team and GM and JJ told Ben to invite his friends on the football team to join them for pizza. Little did they realize that would mean about a dozen boys with bottomless appetites. Gramma and Jim Jam took it fully in stride.

Charlotte’s love for her grandchildren was liberally shared among the three. She was an enthusiastic supporter of granddaughter Katherine as she began her teaching career and also financially supported her on countless mission trips. She could not have been more thrilled when granddaughter Chelsea enrolled at her alma mater and you could always find her television tuned to CNN where Chelsea began her professional career in journalism following her graduation.

Charlotte relished her role as great-grandmother. She never missed a chance to spend time with Michael, Ella, Cameron or Wyatt. Her pantry was always stocked with their favorite treats, and she was known for her famous sugar cookies. She showered them with hugs and made sure they knew how much she loved them.

Perhaps the ultimate example of Charlotte’s generosity came during her last decade. When Dick passed away in 2014 following 63 years of marriage, Charlotte took the greatest care to extend appreciation and grace to those individuals who took care of her – her postal worker, her City of Atlanta sanitation crew, her lawn maintenance person, the members of Covenant who offered rides to church on Sundays. Her spirit lifted their spirits. Her joy was infectious. During the last year of her life, she moved from her home of 63 years to Benton House, an assisted living community in Decatur. Her spirit and kindness, even as her memory dimmed, brought light to every staff member at Benton House and her love was returned fully in-kind as that precious staff helped her walk her final days on earth.

Throughout her ninety-five plus years, Charlotte Cook extended her generosity and her charity to everyone with whom she came in contact. The Greek word for charity, agape, simply means “love.” Charlotte’s favorite New Testament passage comes from the King James Version of 1 Corinthians 13, wherein we are told, in verse thirteen, “[a]nd now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.” St Augustine said that “Charity is a virtue which, when our affections are perfectly ordered, unites us to God, for by it we love God.” Charlotte Gaulding Cook rests easy with the knowledge that her affections to all were perfectly ordered. Her life is a testimony to a broken world that we, being transformed by God’s love, are called to transform as we extend charity and generosity to all we meet here on Earth. Thanks Be to God for the Life of Charlotte Gaulding Cook.

Charlotte was predeceased by her parents John I. Gaulding and Katherine Shugart Gaulding and by her husband of 63 years, Richard Kay (Dick) Cook. She is survived by her daughter Kay Cook Bryant and son-in-law Wm. Bradley Bryant; sons Richard Kay Cook, Jr. and daughter-in-law Hannah Cook and John Christopher Cook and daughter-in-law Carla Brady Cook; grandson Wm. Benjamin Bryant and granddaughter-in-law Kristen Appleby Bryant; granddaughters Katherine Cook Bryant and Chelsea Cook McGinnis and grandson-in-law Walter James McGinnis; and great-grandchildren Wm. Michael Bryant, Elizabeth (Ella) Charlotte Bryant, Cameron Cook McGinnis and Wyatt Patterson McGinnis.

A memorial service will be held Sunday, December 29 at 2 pm at Covenant Presbyterian Church (2461 Peachtree Road, Atlanta), where she was an active member of the congregation since 1939.  In lieu of flowers, those wishing to honor her life and memory may wish to make a donation to Covenant Presbyterian Church.

Go forth into the world in peace, be of good courage, hold fast to what is good, render to no one evil for evil, strengthen the faint-hearted, support the weak, help the afflicted, honor everyone in need, love and serve the Lord, rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit.
1 Thessalonians 5:12-21

 

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