Volunteers to line Belleville streets with flags for funeral of Marine killed in crash
The Belleville family of Capt. Eleanor “Ellie” Cooke, formerly LeBeau, one of three U.S. Marines killed in the crash of a hybrid military aircraft last month in Australia, has published her obituary and announced her funeral arrangements.
Plans call for visitation from 3 to 7 p.m. Friday at George Renner & Sons Funeral Home in Belleville and a funeral service at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at St. Peter’s Cathedral Catholic Church with Monsignor Jack McEvilly officiating. Burial with full military honors will take place at Mount Carmel Catholic Cemetery.
Volunteers with a nonprofit group will line Belleville streets on the procession route with 1,000 American flags.
“We give the community a way to pay honor to a fallen hero in their hometown,” said Jeff Hastings, president and CEO of The Flagman’s Mission Continues, based in O’Fallon.
The group organizes flag displays in conjunction with the funerals of more than 40 active-duty military personnel killed in the line of duty each year, covering a 400-mile radius.
In Cooke’s case, Hastings is asking volunteers to show up at 4 p.m. Thursday for set-up and 1 p.m. Sunday for take-down in the parking lot east of St. Peter’s. Organizers will distribute flags and give instructions.
“If you can carry 5 pounds and walk, you can help,” Hastings said.
The set-up and take-down are expected to last about three and a half hours each. Youth groups are welcome, but organizers prefer that volunteers be at least 11 years old. A dozen pick-up trucks also are needed to haul flags. Gloves and walking shoes are encouraged.
‘Zeal and commitment’
The funeral home published an obituary for Cooke, 29, formerly of Belleville, on its website Sept. 1 but later removed it at the family’s request. It was republished last week, according to Funeral Director Jenna Renner Graser.
The obituary describes Cooke as the “much-anticipated” fifth child out of David and Victoria LeBeau’s eight children and someone who “brought joy, exuberance, and an abundance of love into the world.”
“The excitement and enthusiasm she lived every day was present from the first day of kindergarten at Blessed Sacrament to her time at Althoff Catholic High School and as a dancer at Murray State,” according to the obituary.
“Ellie, who called herself a ‘bad ass,’ joined the U.S. Marine Corps as a pilot with the same zeal and commitment she gave to everything. It was in the Marines that she found her soulmate in Chase Cooke, who shared the same excitement for life as Ellie.”
Cooke and LeBeau were married at St. Anthony Catholic Church in St. Louis. Both were military pilots.
“Ellie will be loved and remembered with the same fervor and joy with which she loved us all,” the obituary states. “As people often commented, ‘There was just something about Ellie.’”
Routine training
An MV-22B Osprey crashed about 9:30 a.m. Aug. 27 on Melville Island, north of Darwin, in Australia’s Northern Territory while transporting troops during a routine training exercise, according to a Marine Corps news release last month.
The area was later described in Associated Press reports as a “tropical forest.” There were a total of 23 people aboard the Osprey, which could take off and land like a helicopter but function like a turboprop airplane in flight. Twenty people were taken to the hospital.
“The Marines aboard the aircraft were flying in support of Exercise Predators Run,” the news release stated. “Recovery efforts are ongoing. The cause of the incident is under investigation.”
Marine Corps representatives went to the LeBeau home in Belleville to notify the family of Ellie Cooke’s death. She was one of the aircraft’s two pilots, her mother told the BND last month.
“We’re very proud of her, and by giving her life, she saved 20 other people,” Victoria LeBeau said.
The three Marines killed in the crash were identified publicly on Aug. 28. Besides Cooke, the other two were Cpl. Spencer R. Collart, 21, of Arlington, Virginia, and Maj. Tobin J. Lewis, 37, of Jefferson, Colorado.
On Friday, a representative of the U.S. Marines Communication Directorate in Washington, D.C., said the military hasn’t released any further information on the investigation.
Love for Australia
Cooke, who used her her maiden name in the military, was commissioned in the Marine Corps on Aug. 11, 2018, and promoted to captain on March 1, according to a news release.
The release provided the following biographical information:
“She served in Pensacola, FL, Corpus Christi, TX, and Jacksonville, NC, before arriving at Marine Corps Base Hawaii in Kaneohe Bay, HI. Capt LeBeau, an MV-22B pilot, received the National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, and Sea Service Deployment Ribbon.”
In the days following the crash, the Australian Broadcasting Corp. and other Australian media reported that Cooke was being heralded for actions that minimized the loss of life.
“We are so grateful for all the outpouring of love from Australia, the vigils, and the prayers and the kindness,” Victoria LeBeau told the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper.
“All Ellie ever said when she was in Australia was how much she loved being there. It’s so important for us that the Australian people know how much we appreciate the respect and (honor) that you have shown her through all this.”
‘Dignified transfer’
According to a U.S. Air Force website, the bodies of service members killed in action are typically flown to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.
Each is given a “dignified transfer” from the aircraft, with members of his or her branch of service escorting a flag-draped container to the base mortuary, where the body is formally identified and prepared for burial.
In Ellie Cooke’s obituary, her family asks that people “continue to lift Chase up in prayers, love and support” in lieu of sending flowers.
Those who want to do more are encouraged to make memorial donations to the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society, 875 North Randolph Street, Suite 225, Arlington, VA 22203 or online at https://www.nmcrs.org/.
Condolences also can be expressed to the family online at www.rennerfh.com.
