Catherine Pearl Cook, 92, of Marine, Illinois, passed away on October 30, 2021, at Liberty Village, Maryville, Illinois.

Catherine was born December 27, 1928, in Marion, Illinois, to Jesse and Effie Pearl (Westmoreland) Heltsley. Catherine grew up in Marion and attended school only until the 8th grade.

During her full life she was an avid quilter, loved canning, crocheting, reading, and working puzzles. She was a fabulous cook with a hearty, country flare style. Catherine also enjoyed growing beautiful roses.

Catherine had a strong Christian faith and a member of the First Baptist Church of Wood River where for many years she was a member of the quilting circle.

At the age of 16 she married Clarence E. Cook and gave birth to her only daughter Judith Ann. The union to Mr. Cook was short-lived.

Catherine married her second husband George E. Ford, a World War II U.S. Navy veteran, on December 21, 1946. Mr. Ford adopted Catherine's daughter as his own in 1956. The couple lived on his farm in Creal Springs, Illinois, but subsequently moved to East Chicago, Indiana. There Catherine worked at Inland Steel.

Later, she worked as a cosmologist, and managed the Crystal Inn in South Roxana, Illinois with her third husband, Roy Carson.

In 1970, she was married to her fourth husband, Richard Adams. She worked as a nurse's aide at Belleville Memorial Hospital and then stayed home to help care for her only grandchild. During their marriage the couple enjoyed fishing and their lake house at Lake of Egypt. The union lasted twenty years until his passing in 1990.

Shortly after Mr. Adams' passing, she reconnected with and remarried her first husband, Clarence, by then a widower, in March 1992. The couple loved working at home and spent their winters in Pharr, Texas.

She was preceded in death by her grandparents Ezra and Levina (Guill) Heltsley and Charles and Lucy (Bradley) Westmoreland; her parents; her sisters Wilma Motsinger, Dorothy Dunnigan, Juanita Heltsley; her brothers Harry Lee Heltsley; Jackie Dean Heltsley; Stanley Dale Heltsley; and Carl Ray Heltsley; husbands Clarence E. Cook, George E. Ford, Roy Carson, and Jacob R. Adams.

Survivors include her loving daughter, Judith A. (Larry) Allen of Marine, Illinois; grandson, Scott C. Allen of Marine, Illinois; sister Sue (Bill) Eisenman of Wood River, Illinois; great-grandchildren: Elizabeth Goodwin-Allen, and Harper Helbling; and numerous nieces and nephews and friends.

Cremation has been accorded by Sunset Hill Funeral Home & Cremation Services. Inurnment will take place at Sunset Hill Cemetery on November 19, 2021, at 2:00 p.m. under the direction of Sunset Hill Funeral Home.