Yolanda Cooks

On Wednesday, July 19, 2023, at age sixty-one, God called YOLANDA ANNETTE COOKS home to Heaven.

One of God’s finest diamonds was born to Marvin Sr. and Ida Cooks on Friday, March 16, 1962, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Yolanda was raised in a loving family with two brothers and three sisters. The family lived in Wyoming, Virginia, and Ohio, as her father worked for the government.

Yolanda attended Mifflin High School in Columbus, Ohio, but moved to Woodbridge, Virginia, where she graduated from Woodbridge High School. Due to the prompting of her father, Mifflin High bestowed her the honor of also walking in graduation with her lifelong friends there. Yolanda went on to obtain her Bachelor of Science degree from Franklin University and worked for the State of Ohio as a Procurement Specialist for more than thirty years. She retired in December 2022. Yolanda was an active member of the Capital Valley Assembly #36, Order of Eastern Star.

Yolanda was known to many as “Juicy.” ”Juicy” was loving, nosey, always giving, and lived life to the fullest! She was feisty and would let you know that you were not her parent when you tried to correct her. She was a world traveler, always racking up miles! Yolanda visited exotic resorts and casinos along with her best friend, Terri Davis, as well as Italy and Mexico with her travel club and Tom Joyner Cruises.

Yolanda will be remembered for her infectious smile and the way she never met a stranger. Her willingness to always give to others is a lesson for us all! She was the best Auntie in the world!

Her favorite pastimes were arts and crafts! She would spend hours making beautiful holiday, spiritual, and children’s ceramics for friends and family. She enjoyed cross-stitching, making blankets, and knitting very detailed designs that she framed as gifts. She traveled to conferences and training events to learn more about different crafting activities.

Yolanda was preceded in death by her parents, Marvin Sr. and Ida B. Cooks, and her sister, Harriett Marshall. She is survived by two brothers, Marvin Jr., (Janice), Maurice (Jennifer), and two sisters, Elnetta (Jerome) Jones and Carrie Cooks-Simpson; as well as her best friends, Terri Davis and Frankie Quick, who were there by her side until the end. Yolanda had one nephew, Darrell Simpson II, and fourteen nieces, Jessica Cooks, Ivorie Cooks, Chandra Cooks, Krista Marshall, Kiarra Simpson, Alexandria Cooks, Danielle Jones, Stephanie Cooks, Ashley Jones, Kayden Owens, Tierone Woods, Kennedy Owens, Niaomi Crisp, and Taelor Phillips. Yolanda had a godson, Lonnie Stuckey, and numerous aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends.