Southampton County Virginia USGenWeb Archives Obituaries.....Cook, Billy R., 1961 

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BILLY RAY COOK

YOUTH DROWNS TRYING TO SAVE BOY FROM ICE

   WAKEFIELD - One teen-age Ivor youth is alive today thanks to the efforts of 
his companion who met an icy death while pulling his from a millpond on U.S. 
460, Wednesday night.

   Billy Ray Cook, 17, of Ivor, died while rescuing his skating companion, 
Roger Smith.

   Cook dove in the pond after Smith fell through the ice while the two boys 
were playing on Freeman’s Millpond, one mile east of here.* 

   Firemen called to the scene retrieved Cook’s body with grappling hooks at 7 
p.m. one hour after the grizzly search began.

THIN SPOT

  Witness said the boys were playing on the pond partially frozen over, when 
Smith ran to a thin spot on the ice and fell in.

   Alerted by his friend’s cry for help, young Cook jumped in the water and 
pushed his friend toward solid ground.

   While trying to free himself, Cook slipped beneath the water then drowned.

   Born and raised in Southampton County, Cook was a member of the Tucker 
Swamp Baptist Church and employed by the Beale Packing Co., Courtland.

PARENTS SURVIVE

   Survivors include his parents, Charlie and Lizzie Bradshaw Cook, Ivor; 
seven brothers, Harold R. Cook, Sedley; Charles W. Cook, Dendron; Bobby G. 
Cook Petersburg and Mason P. Cook, Donald C. Cook, Glenn Cook and John Cook 
all of Ivor.

   His maternal grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Bradshaw of Newport News 
also survive.

   Funeral services will be held Saturday, 3 p.m. at Tucker Swamp Baptist 
Church.  The Rev. J.W. Horne, pastor of the church will officiate.

   Interment will follow at the church cemetery.

   Pallbearers will be Harold R. Cook, Bobby G. Cook, Sam Cook, Charles W. 
Cook, Homer Cook and Bobby Felts.


Billy Ray COOK, of Ivor, Beale Packing Co. employee, 
b. & reared in Southampton Co., 
drowned rescuing friend, 1 Feb 1961, Freeman’s Millpond*, age 17, 
interred in Tucker Swamp Baptist Church Cemetery**, 4 Feb 1961, 
"The Tidewater News" (Franklin, VA), Feb. 2, 1961, p. 1 

*Freeman’s Millpond lies about 2 miles SE of Wakefield, straddling the 
Sussex/Surry Co. line, just above its intersection with the 
Southampton Co. line. 

**Southampton County Historical Society {SCHS} Cemetery Project,
    Tucker Swamp list (TS-13): 
http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/southampton/cemeteries/tckrswp.txt 

Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by 
Mrs. Bruce Saunders (bs4403@verizon.net), 
and re-formatted by File Manager. 

file at: 
http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/southampton/obits/c200b1ob.txt