After a more than 10-year battle with Alzheimer's, Jimmie Nell Cook of Steens, Mississippi, joined the other saints in Heaven on Monday evening, December 5, 2022.

Jimmie, the daughter of the late Dewitt and Amy Lee McNees Ray, was born on June 18, 1943.  She grew up on her family farm in Steens with her siblings Shelby Stratton; Glenda Joyce Hamilton; Amy Heppler; David (Kay) Ray; Dewitt (Elaine) Ray, Jr.; Ronnie (Sheila) Ray; the late Paula Marie Ray; and the late Deborah Hall.  A talented athlete, she played basketball for New Hope High School.  Shortly after graduating in 1961, Jimmie finished her cosmetology training at Vaughn Beauty College.  In August of that same year, she married Ken Cook, a Millport boy and her high school sweetheart.  They welcomed their sons Ray (Trudy) in December 1962 and Greg (Katrina) in January 1965 and, finally, their daughter Cindy (Aubrey Adair) in December 1972.

Jimmie opened Cook's Beauty Shop in 1961 in downtown Steens but later relocated it to the home she and Ken built on her family's land just outside town.  She was one of the most well-known hairdressers in the area and enjoyed attending style shows to keep up with the latest trends.  She worked tirelessly, often starting her day before dawn and ending it well after most people in Steens had gone to bed, so that her customers could look their best at work, church, and family gatherings.  No one had a stronger work ethic than Jimmie.

Jimmie was also a devoted mother and grandmother.  She attended all of her children's sporting events, no matter how early or late she had to work the days before or after, so that she could support them.  She was always the loudest voice in the crowd, much to the embarrassment of her children.  Even her grandchildren remember that Jimmie usually yelled more than their coaches.

After her children were married and had children of their own, Jimmie decided to take up golf, a sport her husband and boys had enjoyed for many years.  She frequently bested Ken, Ray, and Greg and never let them forget it.  She was a well sought-after scramble partner because she could drive the ball better than most women her age or even younger and had a strong short game as well.  She qualified for several Senior Olympic events and traveled to Louisville, Kentucky; San Francisco, California; Houston, Texas; and Minneapolis, Minnesota, where Ken sometimes served as her caddie.

Before attending Piney Grove United Methodist Church in Steens, Jimmie was a devoted member of Fairview Baptist for more than 30 years and taught 6 ^th -grade boys' Sunday school for many of those years.  She often joked that you sure couldn't predict what kind of man a 6 ^th grade boy would turn out to be because some of her rowdiest students later became pastors, youth leaders, and music ministers at various Southern Baptist churches across the South.

Although she loved her children dearly, it was her role as grandmother that brought her the greatest joy in her life.  Raye Ann (Wes) Carlisle, Megan (Scott) McKinnie, Ashley (Tyler) Hopkins, Julie (Bradley) Cooner, Matthew (Savanna) Cook, Sydney Adair, and Collin Adair will miss her hugs and larger-than-life personality.  She took care of them while working in the shop, attended their countless sporting events, hit thousands of golf balls with them into the pasture, shot basketball with them in the driveway, and just last year competed fearlessly with them in game after game of cornhole.  She also dearly loved her 11 great-grandchildren:  Rayleigh, Lillibeth, Anna Claire, J.T., Sawyer, Simeon, Jack, Emmett, Willow, Ava, and Rhett.

A funeral service will be held on Friday, December 9, 2022, at 2:00 p.m. at Piney Grove United Methodist Church in Steens.  Visitation will be held from noon until the service begins.  Burial will follow at Bethel Primitive Baptist Cemetery.  Dewitt Ray, Jr.; Ronnie Ray; Calvin Ray; Aubrey Adair; Collin Adair; and Bradley Cooner will serve as pallbearers.  Andy Tentoni will be officiating.  Lowndes Funeral Home will handle all arrangements.