His earthly body was cremated and his remains were interred next to his beloved mother in the family plot at Fairview Cemetery in Mishawaka, Indiana. Mishawaka is the city of his birth and the city where he lived his early life. It is now fitting that he rests there.
Per his request, there was no obituary, funeral, memorial service or anything else to mark his death. He had his reasons for stipulating these conditions. I know them and I share them. I have stipulated these same conditions in my own end-of-life instructions. I choose not to explain them in this tribute or even at this time. They are secondary to my purpose.
Introduction
My intent is to pay tribute to this remarkable man and explain his life in terms of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and his membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I think I am uniquely well-suited to do this. I am the only one who knew him or understood him, well enough to do so.
Greg’s life can only be understood within this religious context. He found the restored church of Jesus Christ in 1983 and joined himself to it. At that time, he had become disenchanted with Methodism. Although highly religiously involved and having advanced as far as a layperson could, he was disturbed by the Church’s practice of voting on what it believed and the disparate views of its ordained clergy.
Greg wanted truth, not opinion, not conjecture and not just temporary facts. He wanted absolute, unreserved, dependable, immovable truth. So, he set out to find it. He did find it and it shaped all his decisions for the rest of his life. He can only be understood within its context.
The Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ
When Jesus Christ walked the earth, He organized and presided over His church. After His death, and the death of the original apostles, the authority and power to administer His church in His name was lost in what members call The Great Apostasy.
This power and authority were restored when Joseph Smith was personally called and empowered by Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ to be the first prophet of this dispensation and to organize and preside over the restored church.
Greg’s life was imbued with the gospel. Everything served that end. This tribute will include how he lived and loved the gospel as well as some of my favorite stories of his life.
(New posts will occur daily at 8 am EDT until this tribute ends.)
Next: Part 1: Tribute to My Husband Greg Cook - His Childhood
Next: Part 1: Tribute to My Husband Greg Cook - His Childhood
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