ETHEL LOURENA COOK

ETHEL LOURENA COOK, born June 23, 1922 in Anding, Mississippi, died September 2, 2008 at her home in Houston, Texas. Lourena is preceded in death by her husband, Vernice Cook; mother, Ethel Kelly Carr; father, Thomas C. Carr, and sister, Mary Joyce Carr Williams. She is survived by son, Thomas C. Cook; sister, Edith Carr Dally and husband, Retired Judge Carl E. F. Dally, of Austin, Texas; nephew, William Carl Dally and wife, Cindy, and their daughter, Laura, of Austin, Texas; nephew, David Williams, also of Austin, and other family. The family wishes to extend special thanks to Lourena's caregivers, Regina, Elliot, Malcom, Martha, and Aimee. Lourena's parents moved to Port Arthur, Texas shortly after her birth. Lourena graduated there from Thomas Jefferson High School. An Art Major, she graduated from TWU in Denton in 1946. After attending the University of Colorado, Lourena received her MA Degree from Sam Houston State College in Huntsville, Texas. She taught art in Orange, Texas, then moved to Houston in 1953, taught art at Waltrip High School, and then at the High School for the Performing Arts. Lourena served as a Chairperson of the Texas Text Book Selection Committee, was President of Texas Art Educators, and a member of Delta Kappa Gamma Sorority. The family will receive friends from 1:00 p.m. until 4:00 p.m. Sunday, September 7, 2008 at Heights Funeral Home. Burial will be private in Houston National Cemetery.