Obituary of Edith Flora Broadway Cook

Edith Flora Broadway Cook, 99, of Venice, entered into God’s kingdom on July 2, 2023. She was born December 18, 1923 in Toledo, Ohio, to Henry and Flora Miller Broadway.

Edith was preceded in death by her loving and devoted husband, Ray Ennis Cook, and she is survived by her children, Darlene Cook Boddy, Malcolm Cook, Todd Cook, Eric Cook and Edye Cook Shipps, along with 14 grandchildren, 26 great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren.

As a child, Edith always had a fascination with aircraft and flying, and as a young woman became one of the youngest female pilots in Ohio, eventually gaining her commercial as well as private pilot licenses soon after graduating from high school. During World War II, Edith was an original member of the United States Air Force Civil Air Patrol. She worked as a pilot for a company ferrying airplanes around the U.S.A.

She met and fell in love with another pilot, Ray Cook, sharing a life-long interest in the out-of-doors and together they developed a successful sporting goods business, Cook’s Sport Land, in Monroe, Michigan and later in Venice, Florida. Both Edith and Ray were avid fishermen, hunters and boaters. On her own Edith would take her children in their family boat out on Lake Erie nearly every day during boating season then she would pick up Ray after work and go out again. She also often accompanied Ray on wilderness hunting trips. At age 87 she was still hunting and brought down a 4-point deer with her new crossbow. Her children and husband say she was an amazing woman who found it hard to sit still – so much life to live.

Edith was a member of the Grace United Methodist Church in Venice, where she was a choir member and volunteer for many years. She was a woman of true integrity who lived her beliefs and taught her children to do the same. Her passing leaves an unfillable gap in the hearts of her loved ones.

A memorial service will take place at 5:30 p.m. on July 22, 2023 at the Farley Funeral Chapel, 265 Nokomis Ave. S., Venice FL. Their email is: FarleyFuneralHome.com.