Dr. Bobby Owen Cook, 85, of Dyersburg, TN, passed away on Sunday, August 29, 2021 at Jackson Madison County General Hospital. He was born September 9, 1935, in Pickwick, TN to the late, Vaughn Owen Cook and Inona Storey Cook.

He graduated from Paducah Tilghman High School in Paducah, KY. He attended Murray State College and Memphis State College before graduating from the University of Tennessee College of Dentistry in 1959.

He was commissioned into the U.S. Army Dental Corps in 1959 as a 1st Lieutenant and was stationed at Fort Wayne Army Base in Detroit, MI. He received an honorable discharged with the rank of Captain in 1963.

The same year he moved his family to Dyersburg and opened a practice in General Dentistry and was devoted to the practice of dentistry for 55 years. He often said he could not have found a finer town to rear his children and practice his profession.

He was a member of the Tennessee Dental Association and the American Dental Association as well as the Seventh District Dental Society where he served as president.

He remained active in the State and Local Dental Association. In recognition of his contribution to Dentistry, he received the Fellowship Award for Distinguished Service from the Tennessee Dental Association. He was appointed by Governor Don Sundquist to serve on the Tennessee Board of Dentistry for the years 2000-2003.

He served on the Dyersburg City School Board from 1986-1999 and was chairman of the board for eleven of those years. During his tenure on the local board, he served as president of the Tennessee School Board Association for the years 1997 and 1998. He was the recipient of the National School Boards Association Award for Distinguished Service for the year 1998.

He served on the Dyersburg City Park Board and the Dyer County Election Commission. He was a member of the Kiwanis Club and former member of the Jaycees and the Civitan Club.

He had a love for the out of doors and enjoyed biking, fishing, gardening and especially spending time with his family on the White River, in Arkansas. He liked to travel and had travelled to six of the seven continents.

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by two brothers, Larry Cook and Don Cook.

He is survived by his wife of 62 years, Kathleen Swift Cook, and his four children, Mark Cook of Lawrenceville, GA, Jill Krantz and husband, Kevin of Nolensville, TN, Dr. Timothy Cook and wife, Sarah, of Little Rock, AR and Beth Lawrence and husband, Steve, of Heber Springs, AR and his seven grandchildren, Sara Beth Coleman, Hannah Hall, Mary Schroeder, Sophie Lawrence, Rose Cook, Jackson Cook and Harrison Cook; and a great-grandson, Asher Owen Coleman; a sister, Tammy Freeman and husband, Harold, of Kerrville, TX; and two sisters-in-law, JoAnn Swift and Carolyn Swift of Henderson, TN.

He attended the Phillips Street Church of Christ.

Because of the recent rise in Covid cases and the concern for the public's health and safety, Jeff Golson will conduct a private graveside service on Thursday at Fairview Cemetery for the family.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be directed to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105.