COOKEVILLE, Tenn. -- Don Cook, a 1984 inductee into the Tennessee Tech Sports Hall of Fame, died Monday morning at Kindred Health Care in Maryville, Tenn. He was 83.
Funeral services 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.
Cook was born January 29, 1929 in Detroit to the late Donnie O.
and Carrie Nell Duke Cook.
He 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.
Cook lettered four years each in baseball and basketball, and he
served two seasons as team captain on the basketball squad. He
earned the Athletic Medal in 1949-50 as the Outstanding Varsity
Athlete at Tech.
After graduation. he played professional baseball for two seasons
in the Brooklyn Dodgers organization and later semi-pro baseball in
Crossville. He also played both baseball and basketball during his
years in the Navy from 1952 to 1953. 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. He served as secretary of the Athletics Committee for
seven years, and in 1972 he was honored as Tech's Outstanding
Faculty Member.
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.
Some information provided by Hooper, Huddleston and Horner
Funeral Home
