Dena Ann (Cook) Read of Newport, Arkansas, departed this life on Friday, December 5, 2025, at the age of 65. She was born July 30, 1960, in Newport, the daughter of Lowell Dean Cook and Martha Ann (Lassiter).
Dena spent many years working in dietary management and was also a licensed massage therapist. However, she was perhaps best known for her catering, canning, and delicious baked goods. Dena played a significant role in the Newport Farmer’s Market, where she coordinated vendors and sold her own jams, jellies, and other delectable foods. She believed that food was life and expressed her love for people through her cooking.
Dena loved traveling and was always eager to try new foods, which she would later share with her family and friends. She was also a talented pianist and singer who enjoyed gardening. Above all, Dena cherished her family, friends, and dogs.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Frankie Ray Read, Sr., her sister, Tena Denise Cook; one brother, Tony Cook; her mother, Martha Ann (Lassiter) Ashcraft; and her father, Lowell Dean Cook.
Dena is survived by one daughter, Andrea Conn of Newport; one grandson, Drew Hembrey of Tuckerman; two step-sons, Frankie Read, Jr., of Osceola, and Matt Read of Alaska; one brother, Daniel Cook of Mt. Pleasant, Iowa; one sister, Tasha Hosmer of Mason City, Iowa; her nieces, Jessica Metcalf and family, Kera Cook and Family, and Ashli Dickey and Family; her uncles, Wayne Lassiter and Buddy Cook; her aunts, Justine Dunn, Candace Dunn, and Mary Cook; many other relatives and a lifetime of friends.
Friends may visit at Jackson’s Newport Funeral Home on Tuesday, December 9, 2025, beginning at 1:00 p.m. Funeral service will follow at Jackson’s Newport Funeral Home Chapel at 2:00 p.m., with Bro. Brandon
Gates officiating. Interment will be at Watson Cemetery
Those honored to serve as pallbearers are Cody Metcalf, Alex Pickett, Josh Dickey, Chance Lassiter, Derek King, and Ronald Dean Dunn. Honorary pallbearers are Ethan Moody and Junior Adams.
Arrangements by Jackson’s Newport Funeral Home.
