The Rev. Peter John Arthur Cook, beloved pastor of St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church in Lake Charles from 1991 to 2014, went to be with his Lord on Feb 23. Born in the midst of World War II near Cambridge, England in 1942, he grew up to follow in the footsteps of his father, the Rev. Alan John Newton Cook, who was a priest in the Anglican Church in England.
After getting his BA at Reading University in England and his MA at Brandeis University in the US, he entered seminary in England and started his journey to be a pastor in Lake Charles by meeting his American wife Nancy at the Christian Community in the Swiss Alps called l’Abri. After they married, his first ministry was in Liverpool, England, where their first son Jonathan was born. Next, he was chaplain to Stranmillis College in Belfast, Northern Ireland, where Christopher, Samuel, James and Elizabeth were born, and where he earned his PhD in theology at Queen’s University.
In 1987 he was offered the position of chaplain at Episcopal High School in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and in 1991, his dream of pastoring his own church came true when he was invited to be the rector of St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church in Lake Charles for 23 years of happy and fruitful ministry until his retirement in 2014.
He leaves to honor his memory, his wife of 51 years, Nancy Nordquist Cook; four children, Jonathan Cook of Hawaii, Christopher Cook and wife Jessica of Hawaii, Samuel Cook and wife Katya of Kyiv, Ukraine, and Elizabeth Cook of Brooklyn, NY; six grandchildren, Ciara, James and Caitlin Cook, Erin and Malachi Cook and Samantha Cook; brother, Patrick Cook and wife Sheila of Greenville, S.C.; many cousins and his church family.
He was preceded in death by his parents, the Rev. Alan John Newton Cook and Elizabeth Ferguson McFarlane Cook and his youngest son, James Thomas Edward Cook.
A Requiem Mass will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday, March 14, 2023, at St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church. Father Andrew Christiansen will officiate. A reception for his family and friends will follow in the Parish Hall of St. Michael’s.
Memorial donations may be made to St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church, 123 West Sale Road, Lake Charles, LA 70605.
Words of comfort to the family may be expressed at www.johnsonfuneral home.net.