Bradley Douglas Cooke entered the world on a Sunday afternoon, January 31, 1982. He was born in Plano, Texas to parents Owen Douglas Cooke and Denise Elayne (Fox) Cooke. Brad grew up in Plano and attended Plano High School, but throughout his life enjoyed spending weekends on the family farm in Ennis. Along with his two cousins of the same age, Christopher Leake and Aaron Cooke, the three young boys enjoyed adventures in their "club", fishing, swimming, catching turtles and bullfrogs, and getting into all sorts of mischief. When they were quite young, their Papaw Cooke lovingly referred to them as his "ABC Babies."

In his early twenties, Brad got involved in local Collin County politics and was president of Collin County Young Republicans for two years. He was a delegate to the Texas State GOP Convention, and his club campaigned for various Republican candidates by manning phone banks and distributing campaign signs all over the county, among other activities.

As he grew older, weekend activities at the farm evolved into typical farm chores of seeding hay fields, plowing fields, mowing pastures, repairing fences, etc. Farming got into his blood! In 2013 at age 31, he left Plano and moved to the farm permanently with grand ideas of breeding hybrid animals and with hopes of eventually making a comfortable living doing that. Fortunately, Brad worked as an engineering inspector for Eric L. Davis Engineering for 15 years, which kept him afloat while he worked on making his farming endeavors successful.

In 2018 Brad married the love of his life, Tiffany Castine, at Mater Dei Catholic Church in Irving, Texas. Together they continued raising and breeding hybrid farm animals and were fairly successful in their ventures. In October 2019, after many hours of researching land records and submitting documentation to the Texas Department of Agriculture, the family farm was recognized as a 150-year honoree Family Land Heritage by Texas Agriculture Commissioner, Sid Miller, at a ceremony at the state capital in Austin.

Unfortunately, only 3 years into their marriage, Brad received the devastating diagnosis of Stage IV pancreatic cancer, which greatly affected his strength, stamina, and abilities.  Even still he worked as hard as he could to keep the business going and be a loving father to his children. His strong faith and many, many prayers, along with the burning desire to always be there for his wife and children, sustained him. As sick as he was, he never complained about, "Why me?" Instead, he said, "Everyone on Earth has their cross to bear, and this one just happens to be mine." Today we see beautiful healthy rye grass that he planted, the best crop he ever had.  Beautiful Big Horn and Urial sheep, and Scottish Highland cows roam his pastures, among other beautiful animals he bred.

After a very hard-fought battle, Brad passed away peacefully on Thursday evening, April 3, 2025, surrounded by his loving family and many wonderful friends. He was preceded in death by his cousins, Christopher Leake and Sarah Lynn Fox, and grandparents James and Norma Fox and Owen and Martha Cooke. He is survived by his wife, Tiffany and their four children: Claire, Theodore, Charles, and Murdoch; parents Douglas and Denise Cooke; sister Vanessa Gerich and her husband, Zachary; and his nephew Harrison Gerich and niece Emerson Gerich.

Visitation will be held Thursday, April 10, 2025 from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. with Rosary at 7 p.m. at the Keever Mortuary in Ennis.

Mass will be celebrated Friday, April 11, 2025 at 10 a.m. at St. John Nepomucene Catholic Church in Ennis.

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