On July 13, 1924, Marguerite Cook, better known as Beata, came into the world and enriched the lives of everyone who knew her. She was the first-born child of Provincetown natives, John “Peacie” Cook and Nellie (Patrick) Cook. In time she was joined by four siblings: Marian, John, Paul and Sara. Of the five, Sara is the sole survivor.
Beata, who was affectionately nicknamed “Tommy” by her father, was raised and educated in Provincetown and was always a no-frills, natural born, outspoken tomboy. As a young girl, one of her uncles who always “spoiled her rotten” gave her a fancy baby-doll carriage for her birthday. It was something her sister, Marian, had always longed for. To Marian's horror, Beata promptly dismantled it and used the wheels to build herself a go-cart.
Her ensuing years of high school, college, travel, trailblazing and cocktails were no less amazing or fearless. She was a genuine people-person and consummate story teller who loved dogs, theater, music, news, family and sharing her life through her column in our local newspaper, The Banner. She named her column, "This, That and The Other" and loved being a columnist. Meeting her deadline and satisfying her “readers” was her driving force this past year. She made many friends through her regular fan mail and although she had never met them, she felt she had come to know them and treasured the relationships.
On May 30th, while sitting in her favorite chair watching her “Sunday morning political programs”, her voice was suddenly silenced. She had no panic and no pain. With her were her visiting nurse, her niece, Susie, who has been her live-in caretaker for 15 months and Susie's little dog, Bailey, who Beata adored.
Beata is survived by her sister, Sara, her nieces: Cindy, Cathy, Mary Ellen and Susie, and their brother, Chris Cook, and also by her niece, Avis Johnson, as well as their spouses and all their children who have provided Beata with innumerable great, and even great-great, nieces and nephews. Her cousins number in the half millions, at least.
As she wished, she was cremated. Originally, never expecting to live so long, her intentions were to leave her body to science but decades later while looking in the mirror, she decided that science would be just fine without her.
Beata’s Funeral Mass will be celebrated Wednesday, June 9th at 11:00 a.m.. at St. Peter's Church, 11 Prince St, Provincetown. Interment is in St. Peter's Cemetery, after which there will be open fellowship at the Parish Hall for camaraderie and community sharing of your favorite “Beata stories”. Her final request is that you “come-as-you-are”, just the way she always did.
The Funeral Mass will be ‘live streamed’ on stpeters-ptown.org. Face covering is strongly recommended for those not vaccinated for Covid-19.
In lieu of flowers, donations in Beata’s name may be made to the VNA of Cape Cod – Hospice, 255 Independence Drive, Hyannis, MA 02601 or the St. Vincent de Paul society, c/o St Peters Church, 11 Prince St, Provincetown, MA 02657.