Merrill S. Cook

Merrill Cook Obituary
Merrill Martin Swain Cook passed away on Christmas morning 2024 after a prolonged illness. Born in Los Angeles, CA to Ethel and Jay Swain, she was predeceased at an early age by her father and was raised by her single mother in Milford, Connecticut. As an honors student and cheerleader, Merrill later received a scholarship to attend the University of Connecticut, graduating with a degree in French. There she met her future husband, Robert Currier Cook. After a date at Willimantic Bowling, they fell in love, later married, and had three children: Joshua, Robert, and Sarah. The tragic and sudden death of her son, Robert, the loss of her husband, Bob, and two devastating home fires did not deter Merrill from living a rich and full life.
In the late sixties and early seventies, she worked as a school teacher in New Haven and as a computer programmer, before pioneering Champlion's General Store in Eagleville, Connecticut during the mid seventies. Heated by a wood stove, Champlion's sold tofu and other speciality items long before they were common place in grocery stores with customers driving from as far as North Hampton, Massachusetts and Vermont. Products changed within the store, as her interests did, from bee keeping equipment to beer making. Merrill founded Champlion's Beer Fest, as soon as Jimmy Carter legalized home brewing in 1979, with local brewers competing for the championship trophy. The seventies moved into the eighties, the store expanded into a bakery producing daily-made fresh bread with hand-milled flour. The shelves were filled with aromatherapy, potpourri, vitamins, naturopathic and homeopathic medicine, as well as long grain brown rice, and Indian spices. The bakery was renowned locally for its carob oatmeal cookies with many a customer asking for the recipe, which she finally distributed in the early 2000's.
In the eighties, as the pitcher for Nature's Place women's softball team at Recreation Park in Willimantic for many summers, her passion for competitive sports was undying. Merrill and her husband, Bob, hosted legendary 4th of July parties for decades. The social volleyball games at these parties grew into daily matches at their home, where Merrill built a sand volleyball court in 1987. A ragtag multigenerational collection of players gathered at Bob and Merrill's to pound the sand and watch the AVP; they travelled up and down the eastern seaboard to compete; and no volleyball season was ever complete without a King of the Beach tournament.
From the nineties into the aughts and beyond, Merrill found pleasure spending time with friends whether it be at wine club, book club, participating in on-line energetic healing, or sitting by the pool with a glass of something bubbly. She also enjoyed living with her beloved grandchildren and sharing her passion for laughter and television shows.
Her smile and presence will be sorely missed by anyone who ever met her. She is survived by her favorite rascals, Joshie and Sar, her grandchildren, Robert and Cameron Curtis (Sarah), and Kimely Joseph (Joshua).
Many thanks to the John Furlong, ND in Mansfield Center; the Wound Care Clinic at Windham Hospital in Willimantic, CT; the local Hartford Home Healthcare team in Mansfield Center; and the Hartford Healthcare Hospice team in Mansfield Center, all of whom were an invaluable resource to her family in the waning days of 2024.
A celebration of Merrill's life is planned for the late Spring of 2025. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in her name to the Covenant Soup Kitchen in Willimantic, CT.
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