Seeing Stacey Cook at the Hickory Food Pantry was such a blessing, causing their story to be featured for this column. Stacey and Sidney Cook are both from the Newberry, Florida, area, but after the young sweethearts attended Clarke College in Newton, they settled in Hickory following their marriage and graduations. Sidney graduated from Newberry High School in 1976, with Stacey following in 1978. Sidney traveled to Clarke College in Newton with others from his Florida church, influenced by their pastor, originally from Stringer, Mississippi. At the college and Hickory Baptist Church, he found congenial people of likeminded faith. Sidney spent 1978-79 at Clarke while Stacey stayed in Florida to earn a certified dental assistant degree. She then studied at Clarke for a year before they returned home to be married May 24, 1980. Stacey finished her AA degree at Clarke in 1981, before they returned to Florida, where she studied 1½ years at the University of Florida. During that time, she had her first child, Caleb. They returned to Clarke as a married couple and began living at Troy Brand’s pond house. In 1985, Stacey finished her degree in Education at Mississippi College at Clarke, Newton. Sidney also finished MCC there in 1987.
Sidney was born Easter morning 1958 to Edward and Loyce Mae Marlowe Cook. His father worked for the city of Gainesville, and his mother worked for a G.E. manufacturing plant. One of five children, he worked at neighboring farms when not in school, growing and harvesting tobacco and watermelons, loading melons, tossing and catching, building big muscles that greatly impressed Stacey. After high school graduation, he worked one year in construction and welded another year. As he grew up, Sidney’s family attended Union Baptist Church near his home in Newberry. When he was ten, he made a profession of faith, rededicating his life to Christ when he was eighteen. Both impactful spiritual events occurred during revivals at church.
Stacey Lynn Smith, born December 5, 1960, to Louis and Caroline Allen Smith, has ancestors that came over on the Mayflower. She has two younger sisters. Her father was a high school agriculture teacher, with his master’s, until he later built an irrigation business. Her mother, also with her master’s, taught elementary education in the Newberry, Florida, area for forty-two years. Stacey’s mother, a devout Christian, served at the First Baptist Church, Newberry, as Youth Director and leader of the youth choir. Stacey was in her group called “His Kids” that sang in other churches in the area. Stacey shared, “I was a church baby. Went to every function.” In the second grade she walked the aisle but got scared and said she wasn’t ready. In the fourth grade, at a special event in Gainesville, she committed to Christ and was baptized in her home church. As a teenager, she also dedicated herself more to God, as an aside saying, “I always knew God.” Sidney declared, “The main thing about Stacey is, she loves people unconditionally, even the unloveable.” She spoke of her husband, “Sidney is my blessing from God. He is a man I can count on. He impresses me with his dedication to God, the church, and his family.
The Cooks have three sons, and six grandchildren. Watch for the short stories of their sons’ lives in next week’s paper, as well as the rest of Sidney and Stacey’s story. I have enjoyed learning it, and I am sure you will, too.
People get ready! Jesus is coming soon!
You may contact me at lagnesrussell@gmail.com or 601-635-3282.
