AURORA MARY HOOK (Age 92)
Aurora Mary (Lajoie) Hook, of Silver Spring, died on Wednesday, September 23, 2015, at the age of 92, at Serenity Gardens Assisted Living in Potomac. Her daughters and son, as well as the caring staff of the facility were with her in her final hours. Born in Van Buren, Maine, on February 28, 1923, to Christophe and Alma (Dubé) Lajoie. Aurora then relocated with her family to Augusta, Maine, in the 1930’s. Aurora served in the U.S. Navy in the WAVES during World War II, following her older brothers into military service. During 1943 to 1945, she was stationed in New York City and Washington, DC, a service of which she was justly proud. She married John “Buck” Hook of Washington, DC, September 16, 1944, while at the Naval Air Station, Anacostia, MD. They shared almost 50 years together before Buck’s death in 1994. After the war, Aurora and Buck moved to a new post-war home in Silver Spring, her home and neighborhood for the next 62 years. They were lifelong members of St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church where their five children attended school. She served as a Eucharist Minister, bringing communion to the sick. Aurora became a baker in the Montgomery County School’s lunch program. In addition to baking breads and rolls, she brought her own recipes and baking skills turning government-surplus flour, sugar, butter, and peanut butter into delicious deserts. As the School System modernized to centralized kitchens with satellite schools, she helped adapt her recipes to the automated mixing and cookie-cutting machines. In addition to her husband, Aurora was predeceased by her daughter Carol Ann (Kelly) Mikules, her brothers Raymond, Armand, O’Neil, and Joseph Lajoie and sister Arline Hawkins. She is survived by her children James E (Sharon) Hook of Tifton, GA, Terry (Robert) McMahon, McLean, VA, Susan (Frank) Pfennig of Brookville, and John J (Adele) Hook of Churchton, and by her brother-in-law Paul J (Paula) Hook of Pompano Beach, FL. Aurora, better known as ‘Mammom’ was beloved by her grandchildren – Michele, Bryan, Michael, Christopher, Jessica, Nicole, Jeffrey, Robert, Steve, Aimee, Tim, Greg, Allison, Kaitlin, and Erin – their spouses, as well as her twenty-six great grandchildren. Relatives and friends may call at Collins Funeral Home, 500 University Boulevard West, Silver Spring, MD, (Valet Parking), Monday, September 28, 2015 from 7 to 9 p.m. Memorial Mass at St. John the Evangelist Church, 10103 Georgia Avenue, Silver Spring, MD, on Tuesday, September 29, 2015, at 10 a.m. Interment will follow the service at Gate of Heaven Cemetery, 13801 Georgia Ave, Silver Spring, MD
