Georgianna McTeer Cooke Obituary

Georgianna McTeer Cooke

Mt. Pleasant - Georgianna McTeer Cooke, 95, died peacefully at her home in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina, on January 5, 2026. She was born on December 29, 1930, in Beaufort, South Carolina. Her graveside service will be held Saturday, January 17, 2026, in the St. Helena's Church Cemetery, 505 Church St., Beaufort, SC, at 11:00 am. The family will receive friends following the service in the church hall. Arrangements by J. Henry Stuhr, Inc. Mount Pleasant Chapel.

Georgianna was the daughter of Jane Lucille Lupo McTeer and James Edwin "J. E." McTeer, the "High Sheriff of the Lowcountry" who served as Sheriff of Beaufort County for 37 years. She was the great-great-granddaughter of Thomas Heyward, a signer of the Declaration of Independence.

She graduated from Westhampton College in 1952 with a degree in Education. Her life reflected a deep love for, and commitment to family and public service. She was a former Trustee of the Beaufort County Open Land Trust and the Historic Beaufort Foundation. She was a long-time member of the Beaufort Clover Club and the Beaufort Female Benevolent Society. She served on the Altar Guild of St. Helena's Episcopal Church, and she was a past president of the Parris Island Officers' Wives Club.

Georgianna loved the outdoors, especially the water. She was a competitive sailor in her youth, and she spent as much of her life on the water as she could. She was a lifetime learner. She was a voracious reader until the day she died. She was an avid birdwatcher. She mastered innumerable crafts, creating beautiful needlework for her friends and family and sewing hundreds of church mice for the St. Helena's Church bazaar. Her crowning creation was a museum-quality dollhouse that she meticulously built and decorated over fifty years.

Georgianna was predeceased by her husband, Col. Morris Dawes Cooke, USMC (Ret.), to whom she was devoted throughout their marriage and military life.

The true loves of her life - and undoubtedly the reason she chose to live for ninety-five years - were her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, upon whom she doted. She is survived by her son, Morris Dawes Cooke, Jr. (Helen), and her daughter, Elizabeth Meade Cooke; her grandchildren Morris Dawes Cooke III (Jessa), George Henry Cooke (Chelsey), and Ellen Cecelia Cooke; and her great-grandchildren Cooper, Edwin, Dax, and Quinn.

Memorials may be made to Beaufort County Open Land Trust, PO Box 75, Beaufort, SC 29901 or to the Friends of Caroline Hospice, 1110 13th St. Port Royal, SC 29935.

A memorial message may be sent to the family on our website at www.jhenrystuhr.com.

We invite you to share a memory and sign our guest book.