Lloyd Cook, 87, died March 16, 2008, at his residence in Oak Harbor with his family in attendance. Lloyd was born Nov. 2, 1920, in Grove, Okla., to Frank and Nellie Cook. He grew up on a farm and while not working on the farm, loved boxing, football and numerous other sports.

For a short time, Lloyd worked with the Conservation Corps and then joined the Naval service in November 1941. On November 29, 1949, Lloyd married his wife, then Mary Cruden and they traveled the world together until 1964 when they settled on Whidbey Island. After 31 years of active duty, Lloyd’s favorite comment included “I’ve lived through one major skirmish (WWII) and two minor skirmishes (Korea and Vietnam) and I’ll be darned if I’m going to …” and he would fill that blank with whatever it was he was dead set against doing. After retirement, he started a business, “The Sail Locker” in La Conner, building canvas boat tops. Lloyd loved to fish, crab, tinker on any engine and watch the show “Gunsmoke.” Lloyd also loved to tease everyone and kept it up until his death.

Lloyd is survived by his wife Mary Cook, son Richard Cook of Phoenix and his wife Barbara Cook of La Conner; Bill and his wife Teri Cook of La Conner; daughter Jeanine and her husband Patrick Dyer of Oak Harbor. Lloyd was preceded in death by his oldest son Robert Cook. He was also preceded in death by his parents, his twin brother Floyd; his brother Dick; two sisters, Eva and Mae; and two step brothers, Clyde and Lee. He has one remaining sister-in-law, Roberta Cook of Broken Arrow, Okla. Lloyd’s beloved grandchildren are Jason Cook, Bobby Cook, Caitlin Cook, Rachel Cook, and Kristin Cook. Lloyd is also survived by many nieces and nephews spread throughout the United States.

The celebration of Lloyd’s life will be held at the Veteran’s of Foreign Wars in Oak Harbor on April 5 at 1 p.m. Due to a tragic accident involving Lloyd’s youngest granddaughter, Kristin Cook of La Conner, in lieu of flowers, donations are asked to help in her extensive medical care. Checks can be directed to Bank of America, La Conner in the care of Kristin Cook or donations may be made at the service.