Max L. Cook, 78, of St. Clairsville, Ohio, went to be with the Lord on March 9, 2026. He was born on August 11, 1947 in one of God’s most beautiful places, Franklin, North Carolina to Cliff and Doshia Cook. He loved to share stories about his family and was grateful for the foundation of faith, the love of country and love of the outdoors they instilled in him.

Max’s first son, Mark (Tara) Cook of Franklin, NC was born in 1968. He met his future wife, Lois, at Emmanuel Baptist Church in 1974 when they became prayer partners. They celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on February 28th. They had two more children, Courtney (Jess) Cook of St. Clairsville, OH and Kristin (Nick) Myser of St. Clairsville. His pride and joy were his grandchildren, Manigault (Christian) Todd of Brevard, NC, Mackenzee Cook of Franklin, NC, Treeker, Macort, Loee and Clifton Myser of St. Clairsville and Owen, Kravin and Maxer Cook of St. Clairsville. He was blessed with one great grandchild, Olivette Todd of Brevard, NC.

Throughout life, Max shared adventures with so many friends and family. He loved his brothers, David (Ronda) of St. Clairsville, Ohio, Jerry (Pat) of Franklin, NC and Jackie (Joyce) of Franklin, NC and his sister in law Patsy of St. Clairsville, OH. He met his sister Christine and brother, Gene in heaven. The whole Cook family celebrates together with a week long reunion every summer. Those memories of fishing, rafting, telling stories and being together mean the most to us all. Max met his best friend, Chuck Orum, in 1976. Their adventures included scuba diving in the Caribbean and Mexico, as well as hunting and fishing trips to Canada and across the United States.

Max was in the United States Navy from 1966-1970 visiting 26 different countries. He had special permission to serve with his brothers Jackie and Jerry on the USS WASP. It was the first time since the Sullivan Brothers. He was part of the special mission to pick up the astronauts of Apollo 11.

Max moved to the Ohio Valley in 1974 to help work construction on Wheeling Hospital and joined the Carpenter’s Local 3 in 1977. He formed Cook and Cook Construction with his brother, Gene, but always had aspirations to make his favorite hobby his full time job. He completed the upgrades to Wheeling Jesuit College in 1993 and officially retired. Sure enough, he became a professional fisherman that year. Max fished with his friend, Dick Kuthy, in the Pro Bass Circuit in Ohio and as far as Alabama, until 1997. He continued fishing in local tournaments with his friend, Mike Hogue. He lived his dream, fishing a tournament on the Ohio River in September 2025, 3 days before his cancer diagnosis.

Max was a long time member of Emmanuel Baptist Church where he served as a deacon, Sunday School Superintendent and Sunday School teacher. He knew the importance of serving God and others and did frequent visitations. He attended Thoburn United Methodist Church for the last 9 years with his daughter and grandchildren. It brought him so much joy to watch his family serve at church. Max’s faith was the foundation of everything he did. He would often share his blessings with anyone who would listen and constantly reminded his children of the goodness of God. He knew he was heading to his heavenly home and would often say that he was going to be “just fine.”

Family and friends will be received at the Thoburn United Methodist Church for a memorial visitation on Friday, March 13th from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. with Full Military Honors conducted at 7:30 p.m. by the Belmont County Veterans Association. Visitation will again be held on Saturday from 10:00 a.m. until time of Celebration of Life beginning at 12:00 p.m. with lunch to follow.

He requested to have his remains scattered at the Max Meadows stone, his family pond, and some taken to the Cook family plot at his childhood church, Wells Grove Baptist Church in Franklin, NC.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to the Kids Programs at Thoburn United Methodist Church. Max always said the future of any church is its children.