Tributes to Cleo Earl Cook #2

Tribute to Cleo Earl Cook

by his son

Virgil Franklin Cook

Cleo and Frank

        My most vivid memories of Dad are pretty much centered around 2 things:  fishing and watching us kinds play sports.

     I can recall many many family fishing trips to the Camas Meadows, Camas Canyon and occasionally to the Medicine Lodge area.

Frank

     I also remember many quick fishing trips to the Snake River, Spring Creek, Dry Bed or the Roberts Canal.  Whenever Dad had a few extra minutes he wanted to go fishing somewhere.  He loved to fish.  I used to love it when the whole family would work like crazy for 5 to 7 days making sure all the crops were watered, etc.  We would then load up our camping gear including the old army wall tent.  Up to the Camas Meadows or Camas Canyon we would go and we would camp our and fish for two or three days.  What fun we had!

Cleo, Ruth and Frank

     I also remember almost every Easter the family would pack a picnic lunch and we would go and find someplace where we could have a picnic and most important where we could fish.

     Another place where I liked to go and fish was at Mud Lake.  It was great fun to go there.  If the fish weren’t biting, we had a great time playing in the sand and swimming.

Ruth, Cleo and Frank

     I remember very well the day Dad went fishing at Mud Lake and caught the big fish that won the big fish contest.  He was really excited and proud.

     Many other fond memories I have of Dad concern how much he enjoyed watching us kids play softball and basketball.  Unless Dad had to work, he was almost always there.  Not even fishing kept him away.

Cleo, Frank, and James Edward Cook

     I remember when we were living on Jeppson’s farm.  Dad had just sold some cattle at the auction in Idaho Falls.  He cashed the check and put the money in his wallet.  When he got home he went out to rake hay with a side delivery rake.  While raking hay he lost the wallet out of his pocket.

Frank

     The whole family was very concerned because it was the only money we had and there would not be any more money coming in until fall.  When I went down to bring the cows in that night I decided to go through the hay field to see if I could find the wallet.  I had been praying that I would be able to find it.  In the middle of the hay field something told me to step over two windrows of hay.  I did so and walked only a few steps when I saw the edge of the wallet showing from under a windrow of hay.  If I had not crossed over those two windrows when I did, the wallet would probably have never been found as this was a very large hay field and Dad would be baling the hay in the next day or two.  There was no way that he would have seen the wallet from the tractor he was baling.

Frank

     When we lived on the farm in Roberts, I remember following him around as he would go out to irrigate or do other work in the field.  I especially thought it was fun when the threshing crew would come in to thresh the grain.  When I go a little bit older I remember helping Dad stack the bundles of grain into shocks so that they could be picked up and taken into the thresher.

Cleo and Virgil

     On the farm in Rigby, I remember helping Dad irrigate the spuds.  I would go down to the end of the field and go from row to row and raise my arm up showing which rows the water had reached the end.  I also remember hauling hay on the farm in Rigby.  I would have to tromp the hay as Dad and whoever was helping him would load it.  When the wagon was loaded, we would take it to the stack yard and I would drive the tractor while Dad ran the Jackson fork to unload and stack the hay.  It was Dad, while working on the farm that taught me how to work.

Cleo and Ruth

     The strongest memory I have of Dad however is his deep love for us kids.  Even though I was a stepson, I always knew he loved me and he treated me with equal love and respect as his own children.  For this I will be eternally grateful.

 

Ruth and Cleo

To me he is my DAD

Love  Franklin