Jon David Cooksey

Jon David Cooksey lived a productive and good life - first as a son, brother and student; then as a physician, husband, soldier, researcher, father and farmer; and finally as an investor, grandfather, gardener and traveler.

He was born on March 19, 1938 in Ashland, KY - not long before the Great Depression ended - to Chester P. Cooksey of Cooksey Fork, Lawrence County, KY, a foreman at Armco Steel, and Dova Fields Cooksey of Clays Jack Fork, Boyd County, KY, a small restaurant owner and homemaker. Growing up, he shared many adventures and some mischief and accomplishments with his older brother, Rex Cooksey, including fishing and hunting with their father, tipping over outhouses and reassembling a farmer’s wagon in a hay loft. His parents helped him apply for a special driver’s permit to expand his paper route at age 12. He used his early savings to pay for one year of medical school.

After graduating from Tulane in the top quintile of his class, he was awarded his M.D. in 1962. It was during his internship in 1962-1963 at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, MI, that he met his wife Nancy Rumsey of Berkeley Heights, NJ.

From 1963 - 1965 he served in the US Army as a captain and flight surgeon with the 3rd Armored Division based in Hanau, Germany. While stationed in Germany, he learned to love classical music, wine, and the opportunity to travel throughout Europe including England, Germany, Spain and Scandinavia.  He would often reflect on these years of service as a turning point in his life that opened his eyes to the pleasures of the wider world.

In Germany he also became a father with the arrival of his sons, Jon, in 1964, and Stuart, in 1965. With his young family, he returned to New Orleans in 1965 where he completed his medical residency at Charity Hospital and welcomed his third child, Anne, in 1967.

In 1968, Dr. Cooksey and his family made the first of their three moves to St. Louis to pursue what would become his professional focus for the next 3 decades: cardiology.

In 1980, Dr. Cooksey returned to private practice in St. Louis, MO, first with Dr. Ümit Aker, and then started his own medical practice in 1981. He was was an early adopter of remotely interpreting EKGs which allowed him to serve patients in outlying communities including Sullivan, Farmington, Perryville, Hermann, Washington, St. Genevieve, and Nashville, IL He was also an early pioneer of performing outpatient diagnostic testing of echocardiograms, vascular ultrasounds and thallium stress tests. Providing timely results to his patients in a calming environment was a priority for Dr. Cooksey.

After hearing about local farms for sale from a patient in Sullivan, MO, he again had the opportunity to enjoy farming, this time with a livestock farm near Bourbon, MO. Whether cutting hay or walking the property, it was his way of taking a break.

Frugality, hard work and education - three values instilled in him by his parents - were the order of the day when raising his three children. Only buying things that were needed, and preferably ‘on sale’, guided all purchasing decisions. With his children working alongside, he re-shingled roofs, painted houses, raised a pole barn, installed fences and planted more plants than the family can count. His children recall many nights that he would tutor them in math, English and sciences at the dining table.

Dr. Jon D. Cooksey died peacefully of natural causes on January 4, 2022, in Naples, FL. All three of his children were fortunate to have had the chance to visit with him in December 2021 and January 2022. He is survived by his former wife Nancy Rumsey Cooksey of St. Louis, MO, his sons, Jon Fields Cooksey and his wife Shawn Sasse of Charlevoix, MI and Menlo Park, CA, and Stuart Hamilton Cooksey and his wife Molly Loeb Cooksey of St. Louis, MO, and his daughter Anne Coleman (Cooksey) Lapins, her husband Peter Lapins of Barcelona, Spain, and his grandchildren Andrew Lapins of Rotterdam, Netherlands, and Meredith Lapins of London, England. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his brother, Rex Cooksey of Westwood, KY, on July 27, 2021.

A private family memorial is planned for this summer in Ashland, Kentucky.

Please visit:  https://memories.net/timeline/drjondavid-cooksey-33395  to enjoy more memories.