SEMINOLE, Fla. — Derenda Stewart McCook,

61, passed away on Thursday, January 14, 2021, after a valiant battle with illness. Her life will be remembered as one of constant self-improvement and rising above any challenge.

She worked for the Veteran’s Administration (VA) Medical Center in Little Rock, Ark., and through perseverance and education, became the Patient Advocate and then the Chief of Voluntary Services. She also served as the Chief of Voluntary Services at the VA Hospital in Atlanta, Ga., and as the Public Affairs Officer and Chief of Voluntary Services at the Bay Pines, Florida VA Hospital. She worked tirelessly with veterans, reaching out to homeless veterans in Little Rock; arranging for groups, including wrestlers, to visit the hospitalized veterans; and coordinating the construction of a veterans’ fishing pier on the Bay Pines VA Hospital grounds. Her unique style, plus her dedication to work and her family, makes her greatly missed.

Derenda is survived by her husband, Michael “Mic” McCook (Seminole, Fla.); her mother, Doris Stewart; and two sisters, Lynne (Titus) Lindsay, Elizabeth (Ron) Myers (all from Conway, Ark.); her brother, Franklin (Shari) Stewart (Chesapeake, Va.); wonderful nieces and nephews; and precious grandnieces and grandnephews. Derenda was preceded in death by her father, Franklin Stewart, and her stepson, Michael McCook.

Donations to the Little Rock or Bay Pines VA Hospitals or the Arkansas Veterans’ Cemetery may be made in her name.