Elizabeth H Cook

Age: 87

Date of Death: March 27, 2024

Middletown, NJ

Elisabeth Cook, 87, died March 27, 2024, at Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank, NJ. Her story ended where her second chapter began decades before — in Monmouth County, where “Libby,” “Betty,” “Omi” raised and razzed four accomplished sons, where she raised innumerable dogs, mostly shepherds, the apt name for the rescue she founded and operated with a team of volunteers, finding loving homes for thousands of cats and canines, and where the petite dynamo with an outsize personality and heart also raised eyebrows with her unfiltered opinions on an assortment of subjects, particularly presidential politics. Born Helga Elisabeth Gentner in Augsburg, an old Bavarian town, on Aug. 1, 1936, she immigrated to the United States from Germany at age 18 after meeting her future husband, Robert Cook Sr., while he was stationed there with the U.S. Army. The couple eventually settled in Middletown, NJ, their home base for more than 60 years, beginning in 1958, the same year Libby and Bob became founding members of Westminster Presbyterian Church. She loved her Bayberry Lane neighbors, along with the New York Yankees and tennis, the Cook family pastime. She played in national mother-and-son tennis championships at Flushing Meadows in New York, worked at several local tennis clubs over the years, and was tournament director for hundreds 
of United States Tennis Association and club tournaments. An artist with flowers, she created masterful floral arrangements, first at Koch Florist, then on her own through Libby’s Originals, specializing in framed wedding invitations. Libby, who adored hosting Christmas Eve celebrations for her family, is survived by her four sons, Robert Jr., and his wife, Lysa; Stephan and his wife, Mary; Craig and his wife, Laura; and Michael and his wife, Maureen; nine grandchildren, Robert III and his wife, Ami; Connor and his wife, Katelynn; Cayla, Cali, Christopher, Tyler, Michael Jr., Rylie, and Keeley; and two great-grandchildren, Evan and James; and her German relatives, including her cousin Bernhard and his family. Predeceased by her infant twins Ronald and Richard; Robert, her husband of nearly 65 years; her mother Mazia; her father; her cousin Uli and his wife Marta; and her lifelong best friend, Maja.  In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Marty’s Place Senior Dog Sanctuary, Allentown, NJ, in memory of Libby Cook.