Ryan Cook

El Paso/Hoosick Falls – Ryan Colby Cook, age 27, of El Paso, TX, died unexpectedly on March 4, 2013. Born on December 10, 1985, in Ames, IA, he was the son of Raymond Cook and Sandra (Beese) Cook. He attended Williamstown, MA, schools, and graduated from Hoosick Falls Central School in 2004. He was third in his class.
While in high school, he was a member of the National Honor Society. He was also involved with SADD. He played football and basketball at both Mount Greylock High School in Williamstown and Hoosick Falls Central High School. He played on two super bowl teams at Mount Greylock, and his senior year, the Hoosick Falls Central team played for the NY State championship in the Carrier Dome. He was an avid Minnesota Vikings fan and was deeply loyal to Ole Miss football, his alma mater.
During high school he worked at both Babson’s and Fox Hollow Restaurants in Hoosick Falls and North Petersburgh, NY. He loved the game of golf and spent much of his summers playing golf with his many friends, young and old, at the Hoosick Falls Country Club.
After high school, he attended Ole Miss in Oxford, MS, where he earned an Army ROTC scholarship. He graduated from Ole Miss in 2008 with a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice. That same year he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Army. At the time of his death he was on active duty stationed at Fort Bliss, TX. He held the rank of Captain. He also served one year in Afghanistan wherein, amongst other medals, he was awarded the Bronze Star.
Ryan married Jessica (Mose) Cook on September 20, 2009, in Saratoga Springs, NY. She survives as well as her parents, Alfred and Phyllis Mose of Glenville, NY. Ryan and Jessica were animal lovers with three dogs of their own, fostered many others and spent countless hours volunteering at local animal rescue.
Ryan is also survived by his father, Raymond Cook of Wellington, FL, and his stepmother, Jennifer Cook of Saratoga Springs, NY, along with his sister, Bree Cook of Bennington, VT, and stepsister Austin and husband Turner Bayliss of Nashville, TN. He also leaves a maternal great-grandmother, Laura Mosher of Wykoff, MN, a stepgrandfather, Joseph Tornabene of Pownal, VT, his favorite aunt, Debra Beese of Minneapolis, MN, and several other aunts, uncles and cousins.
He was pre-deceased by his mother, Sandra (Beese) Cook, in 1989, his maternal grandparents, Gerald and Murlie Beese, his paternal grandparents, Charles and Anna Cook, and a step-grandmother, Janet Tornabene.
Funeral services are Friday, March 15, at 10 am from the Immaculate Conception Church on Main Street in Hoosick Falls. Military Honors will follow the Mass in Wood Park at the Veterans Memorial on Main Street in Hoosick Falls. Burial will take place in Minnesota.
Relatives and friends may call at the Mahar Funeral Home, 43 Main Street in Hoosick Falls, on Thursday, March 14, from 4 to 8 pm. Although flowers are welcome, in lieu of flowers donations may be made to the Susan B. Komen for the cure fund, through the funeral home.