Frank Bartlett Cook

Funeral services for Frank Cook, 88, of Canton, TX, are scheduled for 2:00 PM, Monday, February 16, 2026, at Hiett’s LyBrand Funeral Home in Wills Point. Burial will follow at Cana Cemetery. Visitation will be held one hour prior to the service.

Frank passed away Tuesday, February 10, 2026, in Canton.

Frank Bartlett Cook was born on April 4, 1937, in Pearsall, TX, to William Eugene Cook and Florence Evadee Bartlett Cook. He was raised in the Stone Point Community, eight miles west of Canton, and attended Canton High School before graduating for Terrell High School in 1954. Frank developed an interest in cars and performance in the early 1950s soon after high school, winning his first drag race in Cedar Hill, Texas, in his 1955 Chevy running in B Stock.

His need for speed led him to racing Top Fuel Nitro cars on a national level, reaching speeds in excess of 300 mph on a quarter-mile track. Frank attended Navarro College before he married Jerrye Magness early in life, and they made their home in Dallas. They later divorced and remained close friends.

Continuing his racing career, Frank won the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Championship three times, the NHRA All-American Championship three times, and the NHRA Top Driver of the Year Award four times. A legendary figure in motorsports, Frank earned his place in the NHRA Hall of Fame in 1990, recognizing his outstanding achievements in drag racing. After retiring from racing, Frank owned and operated Cook Pool Services. The city of Canton and the Mayor, Lou Ann Everett, by proclamation made April 4, 2025, Mr. Cook’s birthday, Frank Cook Day. Frank was a man of few words, but always a gentle and kind man.

He was preceded in death by his father, William E. Cook and mother, Florence E. Deruvo; grandson, Randon T. Bouland; maternal grandparents, L.M. and Florence Bartlett; sisters, Cindy Higdon Waller and Jackie Diane Cook; son, Russell Frank Cook; daughter, Rhonda Cook; and nephew, Brian Higdon. 

Frank is survived by his brothers, Bill Cook of Missouri City, TX, and Brad Higdon and wife, Renee, of Austin, TX; his former wife and friend, Jerrye Magness Fussell; nephews, Todd Cook, Christian Waller, and Bradley Higdon; and nieces, Erica Waller Carpenter, Sabrina Cook, Tuesday Curtiss, and Diana Gipson.

Pallbearers

William M. (Bill) Cook    Richard Behnken

Jim Wise                   David Curtis

Christian Waller          A.R. Sachtleben

Marcus McDonald

Honorary Pallbearers

Brad Higdon     Tuna Duncan

Jerry Nix     Jim Ray

Billy Smith

All of Frank’s Racing Buddies & Friends

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