Dana Cook Pirtle

Dana Gayle Cook Pirtle passed away on Saturday, January 7, 2023, surrounded by her loving family.

Dana was born on March 29, 1949, in Lebanon, Tennessee.  She spent her early childhood years in Middletown, Ohio, and was raised in Gallatin, Tennessee. She graduated from Gallatin Senior High School in 1967 and received a voice scholarship to attend Middle Tennessee State University. She had the most beautiful voice.

Dana was intellectually curious and a lifelong learner. She loved words and read voraciously, volunteering to record audio versions of magazines and periodicals for vision-impaired Nashvillians. She loved to travel and learn about new places and cultures, and she dove into travel planning with gusto.

Although she did not graduate from college, she taught herself all that she needed to know for a long and successful career in information technology, ultimately retiring from IBM.

Dana’s greatest joy was her family. She was a devoted daughter, helping to take care of her parents in their final years, and a loving wife, mother, grandmother, sister, aunt and friend. She was generous and selfless and loved unconditionally.  She anticipated others’ needs and met them without being asked and with no expectation of reciprocation.

Dana was a beloved member of Belle Meade United Methodist Church. Throughout her time at the church, she led Vacation Bible School, served as a VBS shepherd, was actively involved in her Sunday School class and UMW circle, and was always the first to show up on someone's doorstep with a homemade meal when a new baby was born. 

Dana was preceded in death by her parents, Bernie and Virginia Cook. 

She is survived by her devoted husband of 42 years, Wayne Pirtle; her children, Rhonda Taylor (Kevin Forbes) and Lance Taylor (Mende); her grandchildren, Maddie and Jack Forbes, and Landon, Morgan and Brennan Taylor; her sister, Tammy Legge (Reese) and her brother, Allan Cook (Connie); and several nieces and nephews, all of whom she loved dearly and for whom she often served as an honorary grandmother.

Each of us is better because of her, and we will miss her forever.