NEW BEDFORD -- Madeline F. (Cook) Sykes, 77, of New Bedford died Sunday, Nov. 28, 2004, at St. Luke's Hospital after a brief illness.
Born and raised in New Bedford, the daughter of the late Edward and Eleanor Cook, she lived in the same house for most of her life. She graduated from New Bedford High School in 1945.
Mrs. Sykes, a registered nurse, trained at Truesdale Hospital in the '40s and spent her early career in Kentucky in the Frontier Nursing Service. As a nurse midwife, she often visited patients on horseback.
She then moved to Fox, Alaska, where she lived with her husband and daughter for eight years in a log cabin.
After moving back to New Bedford in 1960, she worked at St. Luke's until she retired in 1988. She obtained her bachelor's degree from SMU in 1974.
She was a member of Center Trinity Methodist Church and Eastern Star Agawam Chapter 121.
She liked to garden and share the harvest with friends and relatives. She enjoyed traveling and had many adventures while visiting relatives. She had a keen sense of humor and was kind, caring and generous.
Survivors include her daughter, Marjorie E. Sykes of Sarasota, Fla.; two brothers, James Cook and his wife, Theresa, of Dartmouth and John Cook and his wife, Barbara, of Falmouth; a sister-in-law, Barbara Sykes of New Bedford; two brothers-in-law, James Sykes of Harwich and David Sykes of Bethlehem, N.H.; several nieces and nephews; and numerous grandnieces and grandnephews.
Her graveside service will be at 10 a.m. Thursday December 2, 2004 in Oak Grove Cemetery, followed by a memorial service at 11 a.m. at Center Trinity United Methodist Church 473 County St. Visiting hours are Wednesday fron 3-7 p.m.