Lori R. Cook

Our beloved sister, aunt, cousin and friend, Lori Cook, passed away peacefully on Sunday, April 23, 2023, surrounded by many loved ones, after battling pancreatic cancer for a brief period of time. Lori Renee Olson came into this world on June 9, 1962. She was the seventh child born to Oliver and Lorrayne Olson. Lori always cherished knowing that she shared a birthday with one of her beloved aunts, Evelyn Larson (Oliver’s sister).Lori is survived by her siblings: Curt Olson of Clarissa, MN; Suzanne Kent of Clarissa, MN; Thad (Leann) Olson of Clarissa, MN; Tim Olson of Eagle Bend, MN; Cheri (Derek) Mois of Green Valley, AZ; and Tammi (David) West of Circle Pines, MN, as well as fourteen nieces and nephews, thirty-one great nieces and nephews, nine grand nieces and nephews, and her two beloved dogs, Blu and Rayni. She was preceded in death by her husband, Michael Cook, her parents, Oliver and Lorrayne Olson, her brother, Gregory Olson, her brother-in-law, Brian Foss, her great niece, Cierra Berry, and many other extended family members. Lori grew up, along with her siblings, on the dairy farm owned by her parents in Clarissa, Minnesota and graduated from Clarissa High School in 1980. She then obtained her Associates degree in computer science and moved to St. Cloud, Minnesota where she began her career. She later moved to the Twin Cities area and at the time of her death, she resided in Forest Lake and was employed as a real estate agent through eXp Realty. She met the love of her life, Mike, at a work convention in Atlanta, Georgia, where they were immediately smitten with each other. At the time, Mike lived in Ohio, so they traveled back and forth between Ohio and Minnesota many times during their courtship and were married on May 22, 1999. They shared their lives together until the time of Mike’s death in December of 2020. A very important part of Lori’s life was her involvement with the Optimist Club. She became a member of the Central Minnesota Noon Optimist club in September of 1988 and later joined the St. Paul club in March of 1999. From the very beginning of her Optimist tenure, she was determined to be involved, committed and the best optimist she could be. She would eventually take on more than 40 leadership roles to make her clubs, members and friends know how important optimism was to her. She was the first woman Club President of the Minnesota Noon Club and was an extraordinary Club President and Secretary-Treasurer for St Paul. She also became the first woman Lt. Governor in the DMM District; and in 2002-2003, she was elected as the first woman Governor of Optimist International District 35 - Dakotas, Manitoba, Minnesota area. In 2016-2017, she was the Distinguished DMM District Secretary-Treasurer. She continued up until the time of her passing to be a St Paul Club Ambassador and an Optimist International and club trainer. She never forgot her roots or her family and her ever-growing circle of Optimist friends were her priority. Lori was a true Optimist through and through. She loved and lived the Optimist Creed every day of her life and helped all those around her be the very best they could be. Lori had a great love of life and always wanted to partake in each and every opportunity that came her way, including all holidays, special events, weddings, birthdays, girls’ weekends, etc. She never wanted to miss out on any event and was usually one of the first to arrive and the last to leave and she was always willing to plan the family holiday parties every year. Some of the things Lori enjoyed were traveling, visiting wineries, boating and pontooning, canoeing, riding motorcycle, golfing, attending sporting events such as the Minnesota Vikings and Lynx games, or just being near a lake with her dogs. She was always ready to enjoy a glass of beer, wine or her White Claw seltzers with her family and friends. She especially loved to go camping and loved to play “camping games” around the campfire. She always had great stories to share with whomever she was with. Oftentimes, those stories were at her own expense but, she reveled in sharing those stories with the rest of us so we could all have a good laugh along with her. Lori also loved to have bonfires in her own yard, even in the wintertime, and was proud of her ability to build and keep a roaring fire for others to enjoy with her. Although Lori had no children of her own, she absolutely adored and loved spending time with all of her nieces and nephews, as well as all of her great and grand nieces and nephews. She never missed an opportunity to hold and play with them and they all adored her as well. Lori was a great lover of animals and nature and especially had a deep love and affection for dogs and had several of her own throughout the years. She loved all types of dogs so much so that she would stop and ask to pet someone’s dog whenever and wherever she saw one. Lori was always generous with her time for others and always wanted to help in any way she could, no matter what the situation was. She loved spending time with her family and countless friends and will be so greatly missed by us all. We were so blessed to have her in our lives, albeit for way too short a period of time. Lori’s wish was to be cremated and those arrangements are being handled by the Roberts Family Funeral Home in Forest Lake. A funeral service will take place at 11 AM on Friday, May 26, 2023, at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Clarissa, MN. Visitation will take place one hour prior to the service at the church. The family also planned a Celebration of Life to be held at the Dancing Dragonfly Winery located at 2013 120th Ave., St. Croix Falls, WI on Saturday, August 19, 2023 beginning at 2:00PM to gather with Lori’s family and many wonderful friends that she so cherished. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the American Cancer Society and/or the National Pancreas Foundation.