Remembering ---- Robert “Bobby” Cook
It can be said that … Robert “Bobby” Cook was a man who sought adventure, that he possessed an independent spirit, had a social nature and a curious mind. Anyone who met Bobby most assuredly would say that he loved to talk. He could discuss issue from a variety of topics for hours. See the following memory, shared by a cousin that he spent a great deal of time with while living in California …
“In Loving memory of Robert H. Cook
Robert H. Cook was known to me as “Cousin Bobby”. He was more than a cousin. He was like my big brother. He and I shared a commonality of being only children. We bickered at each other, yet we were there for one another. He helped me tremendously when my father was ill. Bobby flew all the way to California just help me with my dad.
From my memory Bobby had lived in Los Angeles, California in the 1960s throughout the 1980s. I can’t recall when he left California to return and live in Arkansas. While in Arkansas, Bobby lived in Hot Springs and moved back to Sparkman to stay with our uncle on the Farm. Until his illness he lived on the farm and was the caretaker of the cattle and farm.
Bobby loved caring for horses, I referred him as the cowboy in our family. He wore cowboy boots and a cowboy hat.
He loved reading Louie L’Amour novels and listening to country music.
He always made me laugh with his crazy sense of humor.
He had a strong faith in God.”
Bobby sought adventure by travelling and living in several states… (Arkansas, Arizona, and California). In each of these states he sought to experience and enhance his passions for the … the culinary arts, training of horses and socializing with people from a variety of backgrounds.
It was in the state of California that he would meet and married his wife Sharon (who proceeded him in death) and welcomed the birth of a son Charrod (of Washington D.C.).
Bobby was employed by several restaurants… including several in Hot Springs Arkansas, where he influenced and guided many young men and women in this business. He also worked with Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism, at DeGray Lodge and restaurant.
Some of Bobby’s recreational past-time was spent reading (he loved cowboy stories and books on a variety of cultures) … he was also a fan of country music and the rodeo.
The later part of Bobby’s life was spent managing and working on the Salley’s family farm. He took pleasure in maintaining the place where his mother Cora Bell Salley grew up along with her siblings. While on the farm, he focused on the management of … cattle, a fishing pond, and the equipment. Bobby was fiercely committed to performing his farming tasks in his infamous independent manner.
It is through the efforts of Mr. Robert “Bobby” Cook that the Salley farming legacy has an opportunity to continue into the future.
Robert H. Cook, age 79, of Sparkman, AR, passed on Saturday, July 24, 2021, at Baptist Health Medical Center in Little Rock, AR. Arrangements are entrusted to Mitchell Funeral Home of Arkadelphia, AR. There will be no formal service, only his memory honored privately by family.
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