Charles "Chuck" Howard Crook was born September 5th, 1939 to Bob and Edith Crook of Sedalia, MO. However, he along with his brother (and best friend) John were raised by their paternal grandparents Ernie and Bessy Crook. To say the two brothers were poor would be an understatement. Their grandmother, although well into her seventies, worked for the Levi's Jeans Company sewing pockets on blue jeans for $1.00 an hour, and their grandfather ran the local Grocery Store from sunup to sundown. They however were rich in love and knew they could always depend on one another - all too often the ornery twosome depended on each other for a good back up story! Chuck would love to tell of his boyhood money making schemes, from catching snakes and mice and selling them to school kids, or having John be the look out while he pilfered penny candy from Grandpa's Store to sell at school the next day. To earn extra money, the “gruesome twosome” took on a paper route, they would leave in the morning before the sun would come up and wouldn't be home until the sun went down. The whole family worked very hard, but not so hard that they forgot to love and appreciate each other. There was plenty of love to go around.
When Chuck was 15 he ventured to Kansas City. It was there where he met the love of his life, Mary Lynch. These two love struck kids would marry just a few months later, and soon welcomed their first child, Randy Lee. A year later, they would welcome a beautiful baby girl, Debby Sue. Things were definitely busy and times were tight with only Chuck working at the Box Shop, but some how, some way, they made it work.
Finally, Chuck caught a break and was given the opportunity to become an apprentice at an auto body shop. He did a fantastic job and soon opened his own business, "Chuck's Body Shop". It was a success and supported his family for over thirty years.
Just when things were going good in 1973 a surprise came along. When the storm settled Chuck and Mary were greeted with a tornado named Russell Lyn. Definitely a shock at first, He would give Chuck the chance to be a more involved father, because he had a more flexible schedule and finally things had settled down.
In 1982, Debby and her husband Jim welcomed their son David Allen. He was a blonde haired blue eyed cutie that the family couldn't resist. He's now a Detective for the Kansas City Kansas Police Department and his Grandpa couldn't have been prouder! He also has a wonderful family of his own, with his soon to be wife Lyndsi, and cute as buttons, daughters' Lyla and Nora.
In 1986, Kristina Francis joined Deb and Jim's family and baby made four.
In 2001, Chuck was blessed with a grandson Clayton Lemoine. Recently Clayton graduated from Washburn University's Welding program and made his Grandpa quite proud.
In 2006 Russ and Jennifer welcomed Blake Anthony to the family and another boy was welcomed to the Crook clan. Blake was very close to his Grandpa. They loved to talk football and watch Counting Cars, before school every day.
Although he wasn't big on mushy speeches or outward signs of affection, he always showed you in his own way that you were loved. He was kind, funny and cussed too much. But, he was always there to help you out if he could . He will be missed by all who knew him, and you were a better person for having known him. He would always make you laugh and always make you smile.
He was preceded in death by his grandmother Bessy, his grandfather Ernie, his father Bob, His mother Edith Blake, his wife Mary, his son Randy Lee and his daughter Debbie Sue.
In lieu of flowers, please with all your hearts make memorial contributions to St. Jude's Children's Hospital, a charity that was very near and dear to Chuck's heart.