Charles Howell Cook, 75 years old, entered heaven on July 23, 2026, after a long battle with Parkinson’s. Charles was preceded in death by his father, Olin L. Cook, and his mother, Mary Ida Hays Cook. He leaves behind his sister, Marylin Savage and her husband Tim of Hereford, Arizona, and his brother, Jim Cook and his wife Gail of Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina. He also leaves behind his wife of 49 years, Nancy Kilgore Cook; son Andrew Cook of Mansfield, Georgia; son Johnson Cook and wife Margaret of Atlanta, Georgia; and daughter Natalie Cook Mullen and husband Adam of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as well as grandchildren Michael Cook, Max Cook, Chloe Cook, Hayes Mullen, and Asher Mullen.

Charles’s dad, Olin, was in the U.S. Army, so Charles lived in many places growing up across the United States, as well as in Japan and Italy. When his dad settled into retirement in Atlanta, Charles attended Southwest High School in Atlanta and went to college through the co-op program at Georgia Tech, graduating with a degree in Civil Engineering. Eventually, Charles opened Cook Engineering Services on the square in Covington, Georgia, and began designing building sites for subdivisions, school facilities, churches, and QuikTrip gas stations. He was the Treasurer of the Covington/Madison Habitat for Humanity. He could build and fix anything. He rarely met a broken lawn mower he could not make run or a New Holland hay baler he could not fix. He loved his family. He loved his friends. He loved Almighty God and His church. He was a member of the Stone Mountain Baptist Association’s New Work Foundation. He was a first-grade Sunday School teacher and RA leader. He was a deacon and the church treasurer. He was a faithful adult choir member. He was the world’s best dishwasher at home and at church. He dearly loved his grandparents, Howell and Lema Hays, and their farm in Hayston, Georgia. He and Nancy chose to build a house and raise their children on that farm. They shared their home with many friends and family through cookouts, campfires, and hayrides. He was highly respected and loved by all.

A funeral service will be held on Sunday, July 26, 2026, at Caldwell & Cowan Funeral Home, 1215 Access Road, Covington, Georgia. The family will receive friends and family for visitation from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. at the funeral home prior to the service at 3:00 p.m. Gifts of flowers are welcome, as well as donations to a Parkin’s Association.