Fred O. Cooke, Jr.

Life-long fisherman Fred O. "Freddie" Cooke Jr. after spending the past two and a half years trying to get cancer out of his boat, has traded off that sinking boat and moved on to his new bass boat in the heavens on April 25, 2020. Fred was born April 15, 1941, the middle child to Erma and Fred O. Cooke Sr. and lived most of his life in Lawton, Oklahoma. Fred's parents were committed to their Christian faith, and faithfully took Fred to church as a child. When Fred was 10 years old, during vacation bible school at Trinity Baptist Church, Fred prayed and trusted Jesus Christ as his personal savior. Fred grew up enjoying baseball, attended Lawton High School and spent a lot of time racing motorcycles that his dad, a motorcycle mechanic, kept running. After winning several motorcycle state championships and multi-state races, his passions shifted when he wed Wanda Sue "Cookie" Radford. Fred and Wanda were married for over 35 years and had two sons that have been the light of their lives. During this season in Fred's life, his love for the outdoors - hunting and fishing and camping and motorcycle riding and watching Dallas Cowboy football - flourished, and he shared that passion with his boys regularly. Fred loved raising and training bird dogs for hunting quail, and was the "backlash king", as some fishing reel backlashes could only be untangled by him. Fred spent over 30 years of his life working for PSO & AEP electric company as a lineman/journeyman foreman - keeping your home in electricity when the storms came through knocking down power lines. Fred had an outstanding work ethic and like his love for the outdoors, he passed that on to his boys. To quote Fred: "Nothing is given to you for free, you have to work your butt off to get what you want." "Be honest and don't cheat to get anything." "If you borrow something from someone, take it back better than when you got it." "It only costs a little more to get the boat or pick-up you want, don't settle for something you are not going to be happy with." After retiring from AEP, Fred met his love of the past 15 years, Gayle Riddle Cooke. They have enjoyed life to the fullest theses years traveling to Mexico, going on a cruise, planting trees and harvesting crops, and countless fishing and shopping trips. They have spent hours donating their time and money to the Eufaula Methodist Church and helping others in the community. Fred will be leaving friends and family on the dock of life to head to a fishing spot in heaven that we can only imagine how wonderful it will be. Fred was preceded in death by his parents, Fred and Erma Cooke, and his baby sister, Susie Cooke. Fred is survived by his wife, Gayle Riddle Cooke of Eufaula, OK, his older brother, Henry Cooke of MO; his sons and daughters-in-laws, Eugene & Terri Cooke of Baton Rouge, LA and Mike & Shanna Cooke of Oklahoma City, OK; his grandkids that always enjoyed fishing and hunting with Papa Fred: Lancee Cooke, Landen Cooke and Jade Grey, Logann & Caleb Pennington, Lindsay Cooke, and Nathan Cooke, and his great grandboys, Maverick Cooke, Linden Cooke, Isaac Pennington and Isaiah Pennington; and last but not least his grand-dogs Boomer and Millie. Fred will be missed by all of his family and many friends, but we all look forward to seeing him again in heaven. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Eufaula First United Methodist Church - Building Fund, PO BOX 470, Eufaula, OK 74432.