A sharecropper’s son, he was one of the longest-serving pastors in Miami-Dade. He was 96
The Rev. Dr. Douglas Cook Sr., the longtime pastor of Jordan Grove Missionary Baptist Church in Liberty City who was a mentor to many young ministers and a friend to the Liberty City community, has died. He was 96.
Born on Christmas Day in 1927 in Sylvania, Georgia, to Charlie and Roseann Cook, he was the 15th of 17 children. He grew up during the Great Depression and had to drop out of school when he was in the fourth grade to help his sharecropper dad keep a roof over the family and food on the table.
Cook was never ashamed of his background. He told the stories of how he helped plow the fields when he was only 9, and later helped his dad at his second job of stock doctoring (rural veterinary medicine).
Cook was 15 when he received salvation and dedicated his life to following the teachings of Jesus Christ.
“He never forgot how far the Lord had brought him, often saying that God brought him from behind the plow to behind the pulpit. He’d tell anyone who would listen that during the Depression, he worked for ‘two forty a day.’ That meant he worked for two meals and 40 cents a day, and his workday was often 18 hours long,” said his son, the Rev. Douglas Cook Jr.
Always the ambitious one, Cook wanted more out of life. Out of the pennies he managed to make while working various jobs during the Depression, he saved enough money to purchase a bus ticket to Miami in 1945. He was 17. Soon after settling in Miami, Cook got a job with the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad as a truck driver and a passenger coach cleaner.
Once settled, he joined Friendship Baptist Church, then in Overtown. Later, he moved his membership to Mount Tabor Baptist Church in Liberty City, before finally finding a church home at Greater New Bethel Missionary Baptist Church in Miami Gardens. There, he was ordained a deacon, an office he served diligently and faithfully for 16 years.
In 1966, Cook’s desire to serve God led him into the ministry. “He had an intense love for God,” his son said. “His life was transformed when he said he clearly heard God’s voice calling him to preach His word.”
Cook became an ordained minister at Jordan Grove Missionary Baptist Church, 5946 NW 12th Ave., where he would soon serve as its pastor.
Taking on the role of pastor of a church that was experiencing a financial crisis was not an easy task. But through prayer and faithful members, the church flourished, and the membership grew under his leadership. When he died, Cook had been the pastor of Jordan Grove for 56 years, making him one of the longest-serving pastors in Miami-Dade.
It was no wonder that people were drawn to the smiling silver-haired preacher. He was a humble man, always putting others before himself. In Liberty City and beyond, he was known as “Mr. Hospitality” for his kind ways.
Edward Rhodes, Ph.D., an award-winning gospel music producer, grew up in Jordan Grove and remembers Cook not only as a great preacher, but as someone who encouraged the youth in the church.
“I came to Jordan Grove when I was 9 and became a member of the youth and junior choir,” Rhodes said. “By the time I was 12, Rev. Cook said he saw God’s anointing on me and appointed me to direct the choir. He later formed a junior male chorus, which he also let me direct.”
Rhodes, who now lives in Atlanta, said Cook saw his gift of music and nurtured it.
“Back then, we had evening services on Sunday. If I didn’t have a way to church on a Sunday evening, I could always depend on Rev. Cook to give me a lift to church. He was that way — a loving, giving pastor.”
He was also known as a fighter for human rights and social justice.
“He followed Dr. Martin Luther King’s philosophy: education is the key,” Cook’s son said. “And until Barack Obama ran for president, Daddy was a staunch Republican. Back in the day, many Blacks were Republican because Abraham Lincoln was a Republican.
“Although Daddy had only a fourth-grade education, he encouraged his family to get an education, even our mother, whom he helped send to college. She taught for 33 years in Dade County Public Schools. She died in 2013. My sister, Betty Maria, who died in 2019, taught for 38 years in Broward County.”
Douglas Cook Jr., a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, who has a master’s degree in business management from Troy State University in Alabama and a doctorate in philosophy specializing in educational leadership from Northwestern University, worked 31 years as a teacher, assistant principal and interim principal in Miami-Dade County schools. He retired in 2022 to work full time in the ministry, and now serves as the lead minister at Jordan Grove.
“Daddy was a preacher’s preacher and was known for his kindness. He didn’t just mentor his family members and church people, he mentored many ministers in South Florida,” Cook Jr. said.
In addition to his church service, Cook was active in the Martin Luther King parade in Liberty City for more than 40 years. He was also a member of several civic organizations, including the NAACP and the Urban League of Greater Miami.
Cook didn’t let his fourth-grade education stop him from reaching his goals.
In 2018, he was awarded an honorary doctorate degree from the Atlantic Coast Theological Seminary in Daytona Beach. He also made a record, “Mr. Cookie,” and was the author of two books, “The Choker’s Son” and “The Two Sons of God.”
In addition to Cook Jr., he is survived by sons Joshua Bryant and John Bryant, daughter Jacqueline Dixon, and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Cooks body will lay in repose from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday, July 11, at Jordan Grove, 5946 NW 12th Ave., where a memorial service will be held. The going-home service will be at 10 a.m. Friday, July 12, at Antioch Missionary Baptist Church, 21311 NW 34th Ave. in Miami Gardens.
