Adele Susannah Helbig Cooke

Adele Susannah Helbig Cooke, 72, of West Chester, died at her home, surrounded by love, on Friday, March 29, 2013, after a five-and-a-half-year battle with ovarian cancer.
She was born on Sept. 10, 1940, to Edward and Doris Helbig of Dumont, N.J.
Adele graduated from Dumont High School. She was the first in her family to go to college and received her bachelor's degree in education from Montclair University in New Jersey, and a master's degree in education from Long Island University in New York.
She married her soulmate, William (Bill) Cooke, at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., on June 23, 1963.
While Bill was in the Army, they lived at several army bases in the United States including Washington, Oklahoma, Virginia and Panama. They settled in Bergenfield, N.J.
Adele taught middle school English for 30 years at Westwood Middle School. She also taught piano and advised the school newspaper.
Adele and Bill moved to West Chester after retirement, and she traveled with Bill to Holland, England, Austria, Italy, Canada and Germany with her sister Sandra to China. Bill was her best friend, solace and strength throughout their 54 years together.
Adele was an accomplished pianist and artist. After retiring from teaching, she specialized in beautiful meticulous botanical watercolors. She was a member of the Philadelphia Society of Botanical Illustrators and her art was chosen for display at the Philadelphia Flower Show on numerous occasions. She loved classical music, flowers, movies, mystery novels, and good food, especially great bread and coffee. Adele loved all animals (and would feed any creature that would somehow always find its way to her door), but especially her beloved dogs Bonnie, Wooga, Penny, Mikey and Shannon.
Adele and Bill raised two daughters, Colleen Cooke Foos, M.D., of Camp Hill, Pa., and Lynn Cooke Dragonetti, M.D., of Newtown Square.
Adele instilled the values of education and women's rights in her daughters who both attained Phi Beta Kappa while in college and both became successful physicians and mothers. She was a fiercely proud grandmother of William Foos Jr., Susannah Foos, Jessica Dragonetti and Annalise Dragonetti, all honors students, actors, musicians and overachievers. She spoiled them shamelessly and gave them all "unbirthday" presents on every birthday of their sibling or cousins. She embraced her sons-in-law, William Foos Sr. and Gerald Dragonetti, as her own. She was a loyal and loving daughter to her parents who she supported emotionally during their final days.
She is survived by her beloved husband, Bill Cooke; her daughters, Colleen Cooke Foos (husband Bill Foos) and Lynn Cooke Dragonetti (husband Gerald Dragonetti); and her grandchildren, Will Foos, Susannah Foos, Jessica Dragonetti and Annalise Dragonetti. She is survived also by her sister, Sandra Helbig of West Orange, N.J.; and her niece, Jennifer Zelinski of Manhattan, N.Y.; as well as a brother, Edward Helbig (partner Kate Fox); and nephews, Edward Jasper Fox Helbig and Arlen Fox-Helbig; and numerous cousins, including Judy Helbig Bowen and Kristine Kour Tomesch.
Relatives and friends are invited to her viewing from 6 to 8 p.m. on Thursday, April 4, and from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. on Friday, April 5, at the Donohue Funeral Home, 1627 West Chester Pike (at Hilltop Road), West Chester, 610-431-9000.
Interment will be private.
Online condolences may be made at www.donohuefuneralhome.com.