Mrs. Joyce A. Cook

Joyce A. Cook, 72, of Palmer passed away Friday, July 24, 2009 in Colorado Springs, CO.



Funeral services will be held 10:30 a.m., Thursday July 30, 2009 at St. John's Lutheran Church in Palmer. The Reverend Thomas Clark will officiate. Visitation will be held from 5 - 8:00 p.m. at Greenway Funeral Home in Palmer. Interment will be held in Rose Hill Cemetery at Palmer.



Memorials are suggested to St. John's Lutheran's Church or the St. John's Ladies Aid.



Joyce was born January 9, 1937 near Palmer, to Robert and Effie (Goerl) Nedrig. She was baptized and confirmed at St. John's Lutheran Church in Palmer. Her education began at Palmer Public School; Grades 2nd-8th at District 64 in Howard County with graduation from Palmer High School in 1956.



Following graduation Joyce worked for an uncle and aunt, David & Rosilyn Kennedy at Sutherland, NE for 1 ½ years before taking employment in the Howard County Assessor's Office in St. Paul until 1961.



On September 25, 1960 Joyce and Dick Cook were married at St. John's Lutheran Church in Palmer. They made their home in Cushing and St. Paul before settling in Palmer in 1965. Four children, Phyllis, David, Rodney, and Russell were born to this union.



Joyce began cooking at Palmer Public School in 1972 and retiring in 1999. During this time she found time to be a Cub Scout leader. She was never too busy to help family and neighbors whenever called upon.



Effie Sachtjen, Joyce's mother, lived with Dick and Joyce for three years before her death.



Dick and Joyce were honored with the Good Neighbor Award in 2003.



Joyce's greatest joys were her family and their gatherings, cooking, sewing, and gardening. Many were recipients of meals and baked goods from her kitchen and jars of jam and jelly made from fruits she and Dick had gathered. She spent many hours at her sewing machine where she sewed everything from wedding dresses to pot holders. In recent years she had done mending and alterations for area people. Joyce had a "green thumb" with plants and reaped much produce from their small garden area in which she canned and shared.



Those left to cherish her memory are husband, Dick of Palmer; one daughter & son-in-law, Phyllis & Randy Jacobitz of Juniata; three sons & daughters-in-law, David & Michelle of Oshkosh, Rodney & Suzanne of Omaha, and Russell & Wendy of Pottsboro, TX; seven grandchildren and one great-granddaughter; three brothers & sisters-in-law, Robert Nedrig of Sutherland, George & Barbara Sachtjen of St. Paul and Wendell & Jacque Sachtjen of Palmer; three sisters and brothers-in-law, Rose Ann Burkhardt of Palmer, Pauline & Sidney Johnson of York and Connie & Steve Jensen of Lincoln; two aunts, Rosilyn Kennedy of Sutherland and Emma Jean Nedrig of Archer; as well as many nieces and nephews and a host of friends.



She was preceded in death by her parents; and her step-father, George Sachtjen, Sr.