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lockportlegend.com News
the Lockport Legend | February 16, 2017 | 5
103-year-old Lockport resident remembered
Involvement in
community spanned
65 years
Erin Redmond, Assistant Editor
Marie Cook
always wanted
to know what
would happen
next. Staying
curious, it
seems, was her
elixir for longevity.
Cook
Her curiosity led her down
several different and diverse
paths. Having spent 103
years on this earth, she had
plenty of time to explore and
leave her mark on each one.
Her impact was so great, in
fact, that it helped shape the
fabric of both Lockport and
Homer Glen.
The Lockport legend died
Jan. 22 at the Sunny Hill
Nursing Home in Joliet.
Leaving home
Cook was born on Jan. 18,
1914 in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.
When she was just 16
years old, Cook — who was
known as Marie Irwin then
— left her family behind and
headed west to attend College
of St. Francis in Joliet,
graduating with a Bachelor of
Arts in Latin in 1935. It was
during her time at the college
that her ties to Lockport and
Homer Glen began, as she
met her future husband, Farrell
Cook, the stepson of the
prominent Lockport businessman
William P. Voltz.
Marie and Farrell took over
the family business, working
hand-in-hand operating
Voltz News Agency. This
was the first of five different
businesses Marie would own
over a 65-year span.
“Those were the days
when people came to town...
everybody went to Voltz
News Agency,” said Audrey
Manley, one of Marie’s closest
friends. “If you needed a
card for anything, you went
to Voltz News Agency. It was
a beehive of activity.
“Every kid in Lockport ...
they all worked for Marie as
one of her newsboys. Every
man in Lockport in their 60s
or 70s was a newsboy for
Marie Cook.”
Passion for Fashion
With Marie on board, it
didn’t take long for her to
influence the agency’s operations.
The lifelong fashionista
added jewelry and purses
to the shop, a precursor to
what her future would hold.
The couple also helped run
the Voltz Hotel at 10th and
State Street as well as the
Voltz Gift Shop before Marie
began to move out of her inlaws’
shadow and embrace
her entrepreneurial side.
She pursued her passion for
fashion and opened Cookie’s
Clothing on State Street in
the early 1960s. Years later,
the couple relocated the boutique
into Lockport’s historic
district and renamed it
Worldly Things. Farrell continued
to run the news agency
out of an office in the back,
allowing them to work sideby-side
each day.
She attended trade shows
at the Merchandise Mart in
downtown Chicago, of which
she was a Charter Member,
and around the country in
Dallas and New York. She
used her eye for fashion to
bring unique styles to her
boutique, which often turned
heads.
“A lot times we’d go out
and I’d wear something I
bought [at Worldly Things]
and I can’t tell you how many
times people would stop us
and say ‘where do you ladies
shop?’ And we’d say ‘Worldly
Things,’” Manley recalled
fondly.
Marie sold the boutique a
few years after her husband’s
death in 1985, which was
around the same time she met
Manley. The store changed
hands four times and Marie
worked for each of the new
owners until she finally retired
at age 91.
Leaving her mark
Marie’s curiosity and passion
to help local business
owners led her down a political
path. She served on the
Lockport Planning and Zoning
Commission for 42 years
and it was here she cemented
her legacy in Lockport.
“She was a mentor,” said
Jay Ozbolt, who served on
the commission alongside
Marie during the mid-to-late
90s. “She guided us until we
got a firm idea of what in the
world was going on and what
was expected of us.
“She was very businessminded.
She was the one
who wanted to see downtown
Lockport succeed with
her efforts to help the business
people be successful...
She was very knowledgeable
at what she did.”
Her impact expanded beyond
the borders of Lockport,
too. Marie was on the
commission when the boundaries
of Homer Glen were established.
She helped decide
what parts of Homer Township
would remain in Lockport
and what would become
incorporated into the village.
And before developers
could set up shop in Lockport,
they had to go through
Marie first.
“She was very good with
quizzing the developers when
they came in,” Ozbolt said.
“She asked a lot of pertinent
questions that were very well
taken and she was not afraid
to put them on the spot and
have them tell the planning
commission exactly what
they were doing and what
they weren’t going to do.”
Small, but mighty
Manley described her late
friend as a “very tiny lady,”
who had an endless supply of
energy.
Even in late 90s, Marie
enjoyed shopping, getting
her hair and nails done and
dining with friends. Manley
said her outings with Marie
would often wear her out, despite
being 25 years younger
than her.
Manley said she and Marie’s
friendship began on a
somber note, commiserating
over the death of her father
and Marie’s husband, who
died around the same time.
But their 30-plus years together
were filled with more
good times than bad, Manley
said, and she will never forget
her quick-witted friend or
her Irish sense of humor.
“She had a quip for everything,”
Manley said. “When
we would go out, I would
laugh — it was always a
good time. My daughters,
who are now in their 30s and
40s, I would take them with
us and they loved going out
with Marie.”
Marie’s spirit of curiosity
will live on through Manley.
The 78-year-old said she was
influenced by Marie to return
to the classroom, where she
spent her career. She is currently
supervising six student
teachers and is striving to
stay on top of the ever-changing
educational landscape.
“I’m back because I love
to learn. I can’t tell you how
excited I was,” Manley said.
“I learned so much already.
There’s still things happening
all the time and that’s how
[Marie] was. There was new
things happening and going
on all the time, especially in
politics and she said ‘I just
want to hang around and see
what’s going to happen.’ She
wanted always to keep up
things and see how this was
going to turn out.”
Aunt Marie
Marie never had any children,
yet she was a motherfigure
to many.
During World War II, she
helped raise her friends’ children
while their husbands answered
the call of war. Dorothy
Farnsworth, Marion Dorr
and Kathryn Meyers — her
three closest friends — had
13 children between them
and Marie was instrumental
in all of their upbringings.
Though they had no blood
connection, they affectionately
referred to her as “Aunt
Marie.”
The children are all grown
now with families of their
own. They are scattered
around the country, but several
returned home to bid
their final farewells to Marie
during an intimate ceremony
Feb. 10 at St. Dennis Church.
“I love Aunt Marie as all
of her 13 God Children [sic]
would agree,” wrote Frankie
Dorr on Marie’s obituary
page. “One of the greatest
ladies from the Greatest Generation
... She showed us all
how to live ... Love,Laugh,
[sic] and to be faithful to
our hearts ... May she rest in
peace!”
Lockport Library gets artsy with upcoming events
Staff Report
The White Oak Library
District’s Lockport branch
will be tapping into resident’s
artsy sides with its
creative upcoming events.
It will host a wand-making
program for both children
and teens at 6 p.m.
Thursday, Feb. 23. The
event is part of the library’s
month-long The Great Read
program, which is celebrating
the 20th anniversary of
Harry Potter. The children’s
portion for ages 7 and older
will meet in Meeting Room
B, while the teens — open
to seventh graders and
older — will be in Meeting
Room A. Unlike the children,
the teens will be using
hot glue guns. Registration
is strongly encouraged for
both programs.
On Tuesday, Feb. 21 and
28, The Artist Guild of
Lockport founder Ed Smith
will lead a hands-on series
of cartooning classes for
children and teens. These
are the final two classes in
his four-part series. A donation
of $5 to TAGOL for
supplies will be collected.
The library will celebrate
St. Patrick’s Day with a
Paint and Sip event from
6-8 p.m. Tuesday, March
7. Attendees will create
their own St. Patrick’s Day
acrylic painting while enjoying
two glasses of wine.
This event costs $15 and is
open to those ages 21 and
older. Registration and a
photo ID is required. Registration
fees are due by
March 5.
For information about
these and other upcoming
programs, visit www.
whiteoaklibrary.org.