Gifford Garnet Cooke, who co-founded Cooke Aquaculture Inc. in 1985 with sons Glenn and Michael Cooke, died on March 3 at home surrounded by family members at home in St. George, New Brunswick, Canada,
Born on April 5, 1938, in L’etete, New Brunswick to Percy and Maretta Cooke (nee McNichol). Gifford grew up in Deadman’s and Blacks Harbour, where he worked as a marine mechanic for more than 30 years. Often called “Wizard” for his skills with a wrench, he proudly overhauled, repaired and maintained vessels throughout Atlantic Canada.
Over the decades, Gifford and his children built a local family company into a global seafood leader with fully integrated facilities, product lines and distribution networks. The company currently employs nearly 13,000 people in 15 countries and is passionate about supporting community and conservation projects.
“On behalf of the Cooke family and our employees, I would like to express our gratitude for the immense contributions Gifford has made to rural coastal communities in Eastern Charlotte, New Brunswick, and throughout Atlantic Canada and the globe,” commented Joel Richardson, vice president of public relations.
At Cooke Aquaculture, Gifford worked alongside the employees to modernize the company’s freshwater salmon hatcheries and vessel fleet, and led numerous construction projects. His outgoing personality, robust work ethic, friendly sense of humor and steadfast faith will leave a void not easily filled, and the global Cooke organization will miss him greatly.
Gifford was proud of his family’s accomplishments and enjoyed giving back to the community. As a devout Christian, he generously supported missionaries around the world, many of whom he counted as good friends and chosen family members.
In his later years, a lifelong love for woodworking led to his pursuit of boat building. He proudly built many boats in his workshop with the help of son Michael and good friend John.
Gifford is survived by his wife of 65 years, Marjorie (Hill), sons Michael (Starr) and Glenn (Pamela), daughter Debbie (Michael) Szemerda, six grandchildren and five great grandchildren. He is also survived by his brother Ron (Donna) Cooke and several nieces and nephews and “chosen daughter” Ivy.
The funeral service will be held at Sea View Full Gospel Church, Back Bay, New Brunswick on Thursday, March 7, at 2 PM. It will be livestreamed at https://youtube.com/@SeaViewFullGospelChurch?si=8nmUfh4Pfprnl-dI
