Janet Lee Lovejoy

Long-time Stroud resident Janet Lee Lovejoy died peacefully in her sleep on Sunday, November 5, 2023, at the age of 72. Janet was born March 28, 1951 in Austin, Texas, to Thurman Lovejoy and Betty McClendon Lovejoy. By 1955 the family had grown to include younger siblings, Marilyn and David. Janet’s mother remarried Air Force Crew Chief Gerald “Jerry” Cook when the children were small. As with all military brats, the family moved often, first to Rapid City, South Dakota, where according to Janet’s journal she discovered “snow in abundance,” then to Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita Falls, Texas, and then to Bergstrom Air Force Base in Austin, Texas. When Jerry discharged from the Air Force, he worked first at the McClendon family feed store in Bastrop, Texas, where Janet developed her love of horses, with “Tony” being her first. In the early 1960s Jerry moved the family to Stroud, Oklahoma to work at the brick factory that held an annual brick throwing contest with a sister plant in Stroud, UK, and Stroud, AU, much to Janet’s delight. Janet grew up in the First Baptist Church in Stroud, where she remained a member until her death. She graduated from Stroud High School in 1969. A surprise baby brother, John Cook, joined the family when Janet was in college. She received a BA from Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee, Oklahoma, and a MA from Southwestern Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. She worked her entire career as a social worker for the Oklahoma Department of Human Services.

Janet poured her love (and resources) into horses her entire life. She was a long-term member of the Arabian Horse Club and for years showed and won ribbons for her beloved Arabians, especially her favorite – Wildfire. She was an artist, doodling, sketching, and painting. She played piano at the church. A Christian through and through, she proclaimed that what she wanted when she died was to see Jesus ride up on Wildfire.

Janet was preceded in death by Thurman Lovejoy and her parents Betty and Jerry Cook. She is survived by sister Marilyn Lovejoy Grisso, brothers David Cook and wife Susan, and John David Cook, and wife Diana, three nieces, Raquel Cook, Holli Cook, and Abbey Cook, and nephew Corey Cook.