Don Cook

Funeral services for Dr. Don Richard Cook, 83, of Cookeville will be held Friday, August 3 at 3 p.m. at Cookeville First United Methodist Church with Rev. Max Mayo and Rev. Drew Shelley officiating. The family will receive friends immediately following the services at the church. Dr. Cook died Monday morning at Kindred Healthcare in Maryville, TN. He was born January 29, 1929 in Detroit, MI to the late Donnie O. and Carrie Nell Duke Cook. Dr. Cook earned his B.S. Degree in 1951 from Tennessee Technological University, his Master Degree from Vanderbilt University-Peabody College in 1954, and his Ph.D. from the University of Alabama in 1970. He was a U.S. Navy Veteran. While at TTU he was an outstanding athletic lettering in both basketball (Team Captain) and baseball. After graduation he played professional baseball for the Brooklyn Dodgers organization and later semi-pro baseball. He was inducted into the TTU Sports Hall of Fame in 1984. In his teaching career he received numerous professional honors and recognitions and published several academic publications. He truly enjoyed teaching and encouraging students and former students as they launched their careers. He retired from TTU in 1994 as Chairman of the Department of Accounting and Finance with 38 years of service. Following retirement he loved playing tennis and remained active in church and community activities. He was a member of Cookeville First United Methodist Church and the Backsliders Sunday School Class. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by a son, Richard Parker Cook, grandson, David Lane Mitchell and a brother, Lehman Cook. Dr. Cook is survived by a son and daughter-in-law, Donald and Ami Cook of Winston-Salem, NC; four daughters and three sons-in-law, Cathy and Ben Edington, Karen and Albert Holmes, Melissa Oakley all of Knoxville and Amy and Mark Mitchell of Franklin, TN; a daughter-in-law, Tammy Cook of Fletcher, NC; sixteen grandchildren and five great grandchildren. Memorial contributions may be made to the Don Cook Scholarship Endowment Fund, ? Tennessee Tech University Foundation, PO Box 1915, Cookeville, TN 38505 or Cookeville First United Methodist Church, 165 East Broad St., Cookeville, TN 38501.