Partnering Together to Build a Bigger Dream

Contribute by: Julie Steck

David Cook worked as a civil engineer in the Air Force for over 20 years before he retired and moved to Lindale in 2011 with his wife Monica and their two daughters.

Before his retirement, David’s young daughter had a traumatic horse riding accident which resulted in David administering CPR at the scene until a helicopter arrived to care flight her to the hospital.

Hours passed before they knew any details. At times David and Monica didn’t know if she would survive, but little by little David says God put her back together. From that moment it was like flipping a switch and David was ready to retire and spend more time with his family.

“I was done,” he said. “At one period I was spending 220 days a year in a desert. When I came home our oldest would shy away from me behind Mom.”

David loved what he did and still enjoys sharing stories with others but is thankful for this new phase of life. Today David and Monica are youth leaders at Green Acres Baptist Church in Tyler and David also just finished his Master’s degree to become a pastor.

They have one daughter in college and one in high school. David and his family love camping and will take their RV even just a few miles down the road and call it a campout.

Their partnership with Southwest Metal began when David wanted to remodel the existing RV cover on their property. The idea kept morphing bigger and bigger until it took on a life of its own and instead of remodeling, they decided to build a brand-new building altogether.

David wanted the building to be versatile: a place he could host family and big ministry events in, plus wash the car, or pull a trailer into it late at night, close the door and be able to unload the next morning.

David’s military civil engineering background means he pays close attention to detail, and how his building was built was highly important to him. That’s one of the main reasons he chose Southwest Metal Systems. He saw their attention to detail and the way Johnny Kerby personally involved himself on the projects.

“I’m very picky on everything. The reason I went with Southwest is Johnny.

He cared about this building the same way I cared about this building.”     

- David

 

 

Johnny took the time to add some special features to fit David’s long-term goals for the building. He wanted a 14-foot door to comfortably fit an RV without hitting the door track and plenty of space to maneuver it in and out, plus be able to move other equipment around inside the building without causing a bottleneck.

David also didn’t want to see red iron in the door frame and he wanted to use roll insulation, to keep the metal warranty intact. David was impressed with how it all turned out and added, “The erector, Britton Construction, was incredible.”

After the buildings’ completion, the Cook family hosted a graduation party for their daughter, complete with lights, hay bale couches, a photo station, DJ, and dancing. David said, “It’s not just a barn to put stuff in. We also want to cook some BBQ and hang out.”

Sounds like that’s what this building will be for years to come.

Thank you, Cook family for sharing your story with us and allowing us to make that desire a reality!

For more information or to contact a member of our team, please reach out to us by calling 1-888-234-BARN.

You may also click the button below to be put in contact with one of our Project Managers and receive your building quote!

DREAM. DESIGN. BUILD. LIVE.