Family, Friends & Fellow Officers Remember...

Happy Birthday up in Heaven, JW! I miss you just as much now as I did when you first left us. I love you!

Jen

April 10, 2012

18 years ago today a golden heart stopped beating and many hearts were broken. Life has not been the same since you left us. We've all moved on, had families, but one thing has remained the same..........missing you. The impact you made on other people's life was amazing. I am sure you had no idea then just how much you meant to so many people.
Remembering you today and every day.

Jen

October 10, 2011

Happy Birthday!
You are still loved and missed every day.

Anonymous

April 10, 2011

The memorial cross is gone, as is the plaque where they named the bridge in your honor. No one knows what happened to it. You will not be forgotten by those who loved you the most.
I am sure that you have met my friend Robin and my hero and the best father figure I ever had (Carl "Butch" Carpenter) by now. I hope that you all know how much I loved you!

Anonymous

November 8, 2010

Don't grieve for me, for now I'm free. I'm following the path God has laid you see. I took his hand when I heard Him call. I turned my back and left it all.

I could not stay another day, To laugh, to love, to work or play. Tasks left undone must stay that way. I found that peace at the close of the day.

If my parting has left a void, Then fill it with remembered joys. A friendship shared, a laugh, a kiss, Oh yes, these things I too will miss.

Be not burdened with times of sorrow. I wish you the sunshine of tomorrow. My life's been full, I savored much. Good friends, good times, a loved one's touch.

Perhaps my time seemed all too brief. Don't lenthen it now with undue grief. Lift up your hearts and peace to thee. God wanted me now; He set me free!

Anonymous

October 10, 2010

17 years ago today, life as we knew it changed forever. Dewitt County Sheriff's Department and citizens of the county were trying to understand why we just lost a coworker and good friend, trying to come to the realization that this was not just a nightmare-it was really happening. Things have changed since you left but you are still remembered, missed, and loved!

246- thank you for everything. You will forever be loved and never forgotten!

Anonymous

October 10, 2010

Deputy Sheriff Cook, sixteen (16) years later you ar still remembered.

Thank you for your service.

The citizens of Illinois were well protected under your watch.

A tragic loss to law enforcement and to the Illinois.

Anonymous

April 25, 2010

Happy Birthday JW.

Anonymous

April 10, 2010

Today would have been your 53rd birthday. I'm still 22 by the way ;-). I still love and miss you!

Anonymous

April 10, 2010

Deputy Cook, you will not be forgotten! R.I.P.

Deputy Sheriff
Livingston County (Il) Sheriff's Ofc.

January 16, 2010

Celebrating yet another holiday without you but you are not forgotten.
I love and miss you!

Anonymous

December 24, 2009

To the new Dewitt County Sheriff's Department Deputy who posted on here the night before Thanksgiving:

Deputy J.W. Cook (246) was a great deputy and man. I loved him very much.
May he watch over you just as he watches over all his other coworkers, friends, and family.
Life is very short so please do not take anything or anyone for granted.

Anonymous

December 3, 2009

It’s the night before Thanksgiving and I am just messing around on the internet when I stumble across this web page. I just got home for the holiday weekend from the Police Training Institute in Champaign. I am the next in line to go out on patrol for the DeWitt County Sheriff’s Office. I hear my six year old son laughing at something on the TV in the next room, I catch a glance of my loving wife out of the corner of my eye, rushing around the house making sure everything is in its place before our company arrives early tomorrow morning, and the reality of the possibilities pertaining to the position I am about to fill hit me like a ton of bricks. I realize I have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving…
I never had the honor to know Deputy James Cook, but when I get the opportunity to meet him on the other side, I will take the first chance I get to thank him for his service and the sacrifice that he made for the badge…

Anonymous

November 25, 2009

To Deputy Cook and his loved ones:

On this the sixteenth anniversary of your tragic death, please know that your memory is honored and revered today. Rest in Peace, JW. I am praying for solace for your family today and each day of their journey as survivors.

This reflection is sent with the utmost respect for the distinquished service JW gave to his community and the citizens of Illinois, and for the supreme sacrifice he and his family made on October 10, 1993.

Phyllis Loya

Anonymous

October 10, 2009

To Deputy Cook and his loved ones:

On this the sixteenth anniversary of your tragic death, please know that your memory is honored and revered today. Rest in Peace, JW. I am praying for solace for your family today and each day of their journey as survivors.

This reflection is sent with the utmost respect for the distinquished service JW gave to his community and the citizens of Illinois, and for the supreme sacrifice he and his family made on October 10, 1993.

Phyllis Loya

Anonymous

October 10, 2009

IF I HAD ONLY KNOWN
by Reba McEntire

If I had only known
It was the last walk in the rain
I'd keep you out for hours in the storm
I would hold your hand
Like a life line to my heart
Underneath the thunder we'd be warm
If I had only known
It was our last walk in the rain

If I had only known
I'd never hear your voice again
I'd memorize each thing you ever said
And on those lonely nights
I could think of them once more
Keep your words alive inside my head
If I had only known
I'd never hear your voice again

You were the treasure in my hand
You were the one who always stood beside me
So unaware I foolishly believed
That you would always be there
But then there came a day
And I turned my head and you slipped away

If I had only known
It was my last night by your side
I'd pray a miracle would stop the dawn
And when you'd smile at me
I would look into your eyes
And make sure you know my love
For you goes on and on
If I had only known
If I had only known
The love I would've shown
If I had only known

JW, if I had only known that our goodbye that night was forever I would have stayed like you asked me to. I miss you so much!!!

Anonymous

October 9, 2009

Getting close to the anniversary date of when you left. I keep hearing songs that remind me of you. God knows how much I miss you. I don't understand how this outcome was "meant to be" and your leaving surely did not make me a better person.
I know you are up there watching all of us. I know how proud you are of Jered. He will make a good Sheriff! We all just wish you were here with us instead of where you are.
I love and miss you always!

Anonymous

September 19, 2009

Thinking of you and still missing you! Still wonder why things turned out the way they did.

Anonymous

August 2, 2009

Still thinking of and missing you!

Anonymous

June 18, 2009

Happy Birthday (a few days late)
I still miss you!

Anonymous

April 12, 2009

Fifteen years ago today you left us. I took balloons out to the cross yesterday. It is all worn down and will need replaced in another year or two. I am hoping to find someone who would be able to build another because I don't want to see it gone. That is where I go when I need to feel some sense of peace. I go there on our birthday. I go there on the anniversary of your death. Sometimes I just go to be closer to you. I miss you. My heart still aches. A part of me died that night also. I have never been the same.
Life has gone on but I feel numb.
Love and Miss you always!

Anonymous

October 10, 2008

Happy Birthday!!!
I still miss you so much. This year I am celebrating our birthdays a little differently.....I am working. I know you understand why.

I love you!!


Jen

April 10, 2008

Thanks for looking out for my brother last night!
I love and miss you!

March 14, 2008

JW..My friend I miss you so much..Our dept will never be the same..I will have 20 yrs in this Aug..RIP

Kevin Wahl
Dispatcher

January 23, 2008

"The Badge"

He starts his shift each day
To respond to calls unknown.
He drives a marked patrol car.
A police officer he is known.

He's paid by the citizens' taxes
To make it safe on the streets.
But he usually has a second job
'Cause a waitress has his salary beat.

Now he doesn't know a holiday
'Cause he works all year round.
And when Thanksgiving and Christmas finally arrive
At his home he cannot be found.

He's cursed and assaulted often,
The one whos blood runs blue.
He seldom ever gets a thanks,
To some he's just a fool.

His friends are always other cops
'Cause people just don't understand
That underneath his badge and gun,
He's just another man.

He knows there might not be a tomorrow
In this world of drugs and crime.
And he gets so mad at the court system
'Cause the crooks don't get any time.

And each day when he leaves for work,
He prays to God above.
Please bring me home after my shift
So I can see the ones I love.

But tonight he stops a speeding car,
He's alone down this ole' highway.
It's just a little traffic infraction.
He does it everyday.

Well, he walks up to the driver's window,
And his badge is shining bright.
He asked the guy for a driver's license,
When a shot rang through the night.

Yes, the bullet hit its mark,
Striking the officer in the chest.
But the Department's budget didn't buy
Each officer a bullet-proof vest.

So he lay on the ground bleeding.
His blood wasn't blue - His blood was red.
And briefly he thought of his loved ones
'Cause in a moment the officer was dead.

In the news they told the story
Of how this officer had died.
And some who listened cared less,
But those who loved him cried.

Well, they buried him in uniform
With his badge pinned on his chest.
He even had his revolver,
He died doing his best.

Written By:
David L. Bell
Sergeant
Richland County Sheriff's Department
Columbia, South Carolina
Used with Special Permission of the Author
Copyright © 1999 - All Rights Reserved
and may not be duplicated without permission

Investigator David L Bell
Richland County Sheriff's Dept., Columbia, SC

January 1, 2008