Don Cook was born and raised in Beaver County, PA. After graduation from Rochester High School in 1948, he matriculated to Penn State University where he received a BS in 1952 from the College of Health & Human Development and then married his college sweetheart, Virginia Miller from State College. He then served in the US Army for 2 years, attaining the rank of Staff Sergeant and then fulfilled his 8 year military obligation by serving the next 6 years in the US Air Force National Guard, attaining the rank of Captain. During this time period he returned to Penn State as a graduate assistant and received his M-ED degree in 1960.
He began his career as Director of Career Planning and Placement at Penn State. He was then recruited by the RCA Corporation to become their Corporate Director of College Relations, and the Cooks moved to Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Two years later, he was sent to New York City Corporate Headquarters at 30 Rockefeller Plaza to incorporate five smaller businesses into one division, entitled the Education Services Division. He was then named its Director. During the next 27 years, he served in seven positions with the company which led to his appointment as President of the RCA Service Company, a division with 18,000 employees worldwide and annual sales of 95 million dollars. He retired from RCA when the company was sold.
Don chose to take a year to do some volunteer work for his community and he spent that year working with the Camden, NJ school system, their superintendent and the NJ Department of Education to seek accreditation for the Camden schools. He also worked with the Neighborhood Center in Camden, helping with their long range planning, programs and funding. At the end of one year, he was invited to become President of SEMCOR, Inc., a Systems Engineering and Management Corporation providing technical and engineering services for the US Dept. of Defense and other classified organizations. In 1996, he retired from SEMCOR and moved to Indialantic, FL.
Through the years, the Cooks continued to serve their University. Don’s work for his Alma Mater began when he was elected President of the South Jersey Alumni Board. He then served as President of the Penn State National Alumni Assn., Director of the Renaissance Scholarship Fund, and Chair of the Libraries Development Advisory Board. He was named an Alumni Fellow in 1985 and a distinguished alumnus, the highest honor bestowed on an alumnus by the University, in 1998. After 12 years as a University Trustee, he received emeritus status in 1997. He then agreed to represent the Trustees on the Board of the Penn State-Geisinger Health System and to chair the Hershey Medical Center’s capital campaign to raise $110,000,000. He was much in demand as a speaker and sat on the Board of several companies. He was a member of Beta Theta Pi fraternity as was his father, Don, Sr. His brother-in-law, Ed Miller, and his grandson, Joshua Billings, are also Betas.
His community service was extensive. He served on the Board of Directors of the West Jersey Hospital, Voorhees, NJ, on the Board of Methodist Hospital in Philadelphia, and the Camden County and Greater Philadelphia United Way Board of Directors. He served on the National Board of the Boy Scouts of America, and was an Eagle Scout himself. As a member of the Eastern Intercollegiate Association of Football Officials, he officiated high school and college games for 25 years. During his retirement, he offered his expertise to help Red Lion Christian Academy, Bear, DE and Calvary Chapel Academy, Melbourne, FL attain accreditation for their schools.
Don is survived by his wife, Ginny, and three daughters: Debra Cook Billings (George), Bear, DE, Kim Cook Pfleger (Carl), Ridgefield, CT and Marjory Cook Dunham (Judson), Indialantic, FL, Six grandchildren: Joshua and Jenna Billings, Britteny and Danielle Pfleger, Brooks Lee and Robert Dunham, and one brother, Robert, Bellville, NJ.
Above all, Don was known as a strong Christian gentleman. He was known by his colleagues for bringing Christ into the work place and onto the playing fields. He served four churches in his life span in many different arenas, but with all of his positions and achievements in the fields of education and business, his relationship with his Lord came first. In the last few years of his life he suffered from Alzheimer’s Disease and spent the last days of his life in the William Childs Hospice House of Palm Bay, a beautiful home, attended by caring and loving staff.