The spirit of Early Fleming Cook, 94, of McKinney, Texas, left this mortal world on October 17, 2008, following a brief illness. She was born on July 30, 1914, in Paris, Texas, to parents Early Price and Morris Fleming, both native Texans whose families had arrived in the 1800s. She graduated from Paris High School, Paris Junior College and SMU in Dallas where she was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority, obtaining a B.A. Degree in 1935. From 1936-1940, she taught school in Groesbeck, Texas where she met her future husband, Noble Cook, a graduate of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, who was working as a teacher at the same school. They married in 1940 and moved to many small towns where Noble worked as an oil scout and geologist. In 1942, her first daughter, Early Laurel, was born in Paris, Texas followed by two more daughters, Louise Patricia and Carolyn Fleming born in 1944 and 1946 in Palestine, Texas. In 1950, the booming oil business brought the Cooks to Louisiana where Early taught Home Economics at Thibodaux Junior College while her husband continued his career as an oil scout. Two years later, Noble accepted a position with Standard Oil in New Orleans and moved his family to the city they would call home for the next fifty years. While her children were in school, Early enrolled at Tulane University to study mechanical drafting. With her creative gifts as an artist and teacher, she soon became an accomplished draftsman for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and later F & A Map Company where she worked tirelessly until her retirement in 1979. In New Orleans she reveled in her children’s activities as they went through high school and college, married and started their families. Her grandchildren were a special delight to her. Early and Noble enjoyed every aspect of life in the “Crescent City” from fine dining to nightlife, LSU football, trips to the French Quarter and especially their beloved horse-racing activities at the Fair Grounds. Following her husband’s death, Early moved to McKinney, Texas, in 2000, to live with her oldest daughter. “The Two Earlys” were happy in their new home where both pursued their life-long hobbies of quilting and sewing, collecting and dressing dolls, DAR, and church and family activities. Early was a member of the John Abston Chapter of the National Society, Daughters of the American Revolution and the First United Methodist Church, both in McKinney and former member of the New Orleans Kappa Kappa Gamma Alumnae Association. She is predeceased by her parents, two sisters and husband. She is survived by three daughters: Early Irwin of McKinney; Carolyn Ewell and husband, Joe, of New Orleans, LA; and Louise Walsh and husband, Tom, of Montgomery, TX; five grandchildren: Laurie Payne of Plano, TX; Kendall Raborn and Thomas Walsh IV, both of Houston, TX; Joe Royce Ewell of San Francisco, CA and Tracy Ewell of Atlanta, GA. She also leaves six great-grandchildren. Funeral services will be held at 10:30 A. M., Monday, October 20, 2008, at First United Methodist Church in McKinney, Texas with Dr. Jim Palmer officiating. Interment will follow at Evergreen Cemetery in Paris, Texas at 2:30 P.M. The family will receive friends during a visitation from 3:00 – 5:00 P.M. Sunday evening. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the organ fund at First United Methodist Church, 315 N. Church St., McKinney, TX, 75069.