Virginia "Ann" Garrett Cooke

Virginia “Ann” Garrett Cooke was called to eternal rest on  Wednesday, December 1, 2021. She was born in Halifax County, Virginia and moved to Newport News at an early age. Virginia was a graduate of Huntington High  School Class of 1960. She had a long career in retail starting as a sales clerk at Kramers Clothing Store on Jefferson Ave. in Newport News Va. to Houseware Manger later becoming the Garden Dept. Manager at Hechingers “The Do it Yourself Lumber Store”.  She mastered her craft of quality customer service and truly was a  lawn and garden connoisseur. With the close of Hechingers, Virginia began her all-time favorite position of full-time Grandma Ginny; she was the best. In the last phase of her life, she had what was equivalent to a part-time responsibility, she committed to being a model dialysis patient where she acquired many peers that treated her with the utmost kindness and respect. Additionally “in true fashion, she built community and developed a friendship with her  technician, Cammie.“ Their  mutual compassion for fur babies was an uplift in a world that wasn’t always easy.” 

She was preceded in death by her parents Jacob Clifton and Annie Jane Garrett; sisters Doris Garrett, Mavis Jarman, and Barbara Leonard. Virginia is survived by her loving and devoted husband of 56 years, Charles H. Cooke Sr., daughter, Chaenn Thomas (James) of  Williamsburg Va., son, Charles H. Cooke Jr.,  sister, Olivia G. Jones of Hampton Va., sister-in-law Sharon E. Lowther, whom she loved like a daughter, three grandchildren, Jaymi and Treyjon Thomas and Levi Cooke. She is survived by a number of nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends who will miss her deeply.