Andrea J. Cook

    Andrea J. Cook, age 66, Cottonwood, S.D., died Saturday, April 23, 2016, at the Hans P. Peterson Memorial Hospital in Philip.
    Andrea J. Cook was born Nov. 22, 1949, to Charles and Iris (Privett) Brown in Huron.
    She grew up in Huron but had country connections from the start, riding family horses, participating in 4-H and working at the local livestock barn. Those would be her first experiences with a world that would one day become her life.
    She attended South Dakota State University to study journalism with an agriculture focus. But she also managed to focus on a young man from West River ranch country named Jerald Cook, who was pursuing an agriculture degree. They were married in Brookings on Feb. 19, 1972. Upon their graduation, they moved back to a rustic homestead on the Cook family land near Cottonwood, which is great country, as the locals say, “if you don’t weaken.” They never did. It wasn't in their nature.
    Never afraid of dirt on her hands or manure on her boots, Andrea loved the outdoors, wildlife and livestock and saw the value and importance of all lives, great and small. She and Jerald shaped their life together as a team, whether it was in raising their two children, Wendy and Jeremy, or slogging through wintry conditions during spring calving.
    Soon, Andrea was also incorporating her journalism training into their life partnership, joining the Pioneer Review in Philip in 1975 as a reporter. She worked for most of the next 25 years as reporter and editor for the Pioneer Review, all the while sharing the load on the ranch and raising kids. She also somehow found time to be active with 4-H, the United Church of Philip Christian Education, Philip Eastern Star, Haakon Community Library Board and various other organizations and groups.
    She joined the Rapid City Journal as a reporter in 2002, and in the next 14 years excelled in covering education, agriculture, courts and cops and any type of breaking news. Along the way, she inspired colleagues with her honesty and integrity and challenged them with her work ethic.
    She barely took time out from covering the news for two knee-replacement surgeries and short recovery periods. When she ambled stiffly into the Journal newsroom after one of the surgeries, she was asked by another Journal staffer why she hadn’t taken more time off. She shrugged and said, “Oh, I got tired of sitting around the house. And there’s work to do.”
    She always had plenty of that, and she believed in finishing it – whether it was rising early to drive from the ranch to Rapid City for a murder trial or staying up late back home to doctor a sick calf.
    She earned the respect of news sources from police officers and prosecutors to defense lawyers and judges, from school teachers and bus drivers to superintendents and mayors.
    She was known in the Journal coverage area for being fair and tough and accurate, but offered compassion for those who needed it. And she carried more than her share of newsroom duties, despite a succession of health challenges from ovarian cancer that, after eight years, finally took her life. But it never took her spirit. And for as long as she possibly could, she continued with her work and her hobbies, including camping, fishing, gardening and volksmarching, which she shared with Jerald and their grandson, Josh.
    Survivors include husband, Jerald Cook, Cottonwood; daughter, Wendy Cook (Ken Hernandez), Rapid City; son, Jeremy Cook (Danni), Wall; grandson, Joshua Reed Cook; mother, Iris Brown, Huron; sisters Rhonda Brown Szpotanski, California, Tamara Hatle (Jerry), Stickney, and Lisa Schnieder (Kent), Huron; and many relatives and friends across western South Dakota and beyond.
    She was preceded in death by her father, Charles Brown, and an infant brother, Stephen Brown.
    Visitation will be held from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. Friday, April 29, at the Rush Funeral Home in Philip.
    Memorial services will be held at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, April 30, at the American Legion Hall in Philip, with Pastor Kathy Chesney officiating.
    Andrea’s passing is a painful loss that will linger long among those who loved her. But they will go on, as she would expect. After all, there’s work to do.
     Arrangements are with Rush Funeral Home of Philip.
    Online condolences may be made at rushfuneralhome.com