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City of Oaks Cremation

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City of Oaks Funeral Home & Cremations

Obituary
Mary Jo Lester

Raleigh, North Carolina

Age 75.
Died 6/19/2025.

Mary Jo Cooke Lester was born on September 8,1949 to the late Wesley and Josephine Cooke of Wake Forest, NC. After facing ongoing health challenges, Mary Jo departed this life and entered eternal rest in Heaven on June 19, 2025. Mary Jo is survived by her husband of fifty-seven years, Thomas Jefferson Lester of Raleigh, daughter Mary Denise Lester-Williams of Raleigh, son Jeffery Thomas Lester and wife Jessica of Archer Lodge, grandchildren Kristen Danielle Lautens and wife Margot of Ontario, Canada and Belinda Williams and husband Danny of Raleigh, special great-granddaughter Ariana Clark, three great-grandchildren Zoe, Sofia, Alicia, sister Ruby Weathers of Wake Forest, and numerous nieces and nephews. Mary Jo was preceded in death by her brothers JW Cooke and Leon Cooke, and sister Ann Finch all of Wake Forest. Mary Jo worked in healthcare administration at Rex, Wake Med, and Western Wake Med until retirement. She was a loving grandmother and adored great-grandmother. Visitation will be held at 11:00 AM on Tuesday, June 24th, followed by the funeral service at 12:00 PM. Historic Glen Royal Baptist Church Wake Forest, NC In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Glen Royal Baptist Church

For additional information or for service details, please reach out to the family directly.


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City of Oaks Cremation and Funeral Home is a full-service funeral home in Raleigh, serving all of North Carolina and beyond. We provide an alternative to costly funeral homes and every day we help families in Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and all over North Carolina make simple, affordable funeral arrangements.

Simply having to reach out to a funeral home can feel overwhelming. Our goal is to simplify the entire funeral home experience and make the process as easy as possible. We hope to eliminate any unnecessary surprises by publishing our total cost and the services we provide directly on our website. All of our obituaries are provided free of charge as a way to help families celebrate and commemorate the lives of their loved ones.

Our Promise

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Apples to Apples

Just like all other licensed funeral homes in North Carolina, City of Oaks Cremation, LLC is regulated by the NC Board of Funeral Service.


The same laws that apply to the big corporate funeral homes also apply to the modest independently owned firms like ours. All crematories in North Carolina, regardless of who owns them, are inspected annually by the state and must adhere to the same rules and laws.

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Genuine Care

We're committed to providing families within our community unsurpassed service before, during and after the time of loss.


Our staff will provide clear communication to your family through each step as we move forward from the original phone call notifying us of a death to the time we deliver the urn back to your family. We will treat your family with the utmost respect, as we honor the wishes of your loved one.


We promise to make this process affordable and as endurable as possible.

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State Wide

Our Funeral Home is located in Wake County NC; however, we provide our services to families throughout the entire State.


Unlike other funeral homes, we don't charge an additional mileage fee. Regardless of what county you live in, we can help your family with making simple, affordable funeral arrangements. From Asheville to Wilmington, we're proud to help families statewide.