Douglas James Cook

It is with great sadness that the Cook family announces the passing of their beloved husband, father, grandfather, great grandfather and uncle.

Douglas Cook was born in 1938 to Weeks and Marion Cook of Las Vegas Nevada…One of 5 siblings he preceded in death by brothers’ Bill, Tom, Fred and sister Marilyn (Sissy).

He was very active in sports and played football for both Las Vegas High School, Wildcats and was the very first Most Valuable Player for the Bishop Goman High School, Gaels.  

It was in Las Vegas that his dream of flying originated, observing P-51 Mustangs out of Las Vegas Army Airfield (later named Nellis AirForce Base) flying over his house and where he first saw those supernatural beings called Fighter Pilots.  Las Vegas is also where he met the love of his life Jane Walker, who moved into his neighborhood just one house down from his own when they were both 12 years old.

After high school, he joined the Army but quickly transferred to the AirForce in search of his dream of flight.  He commanded a radar sight in Alaska, returned to the continental US attended OCS (Officer Candidate School) and receive his Commission in June of 1960.   He then, very romantically in a car, asked the love of his life, if she didn’t have anything better to do, would she be his wife. Douglas Cook and Jane Walker were married on June 11^th 1960 and began what Jane called an amazing journey and adventure together to faraway places lasting 64 years.

Their son John was born a year later as Douglas was becoming a B-47 Navigator stationed at SAC (Strategic Air Command) in Lincoln Nebraska.  A year later his son Mark was born shortly before he was sent on TDY (Temporary Duty) to the UK during the Cuban missile crisis.  Three years later, his little girl Marian arrived just prior to their departure from Lincoln to Mountain Home Idaho where his aircraft commander Col Keith Nystrom directed him to go to Flight school.

He transferred to Del Rio, TX, attended flight school, fulfilling his dream of flight by piloting the T-38. He graduated senior in his class and was transferred to Canon AFB in New Mexico where he began flying the F-100. In late 1967 he moved his family to his hometown of Las Vegas in preparation for his first 1-year tour (1968) in Vietnam (Phan Rang AFB), winning the DFC (Distinguished Flying Cross) for close ground support saving friendly forces from a perilous situation.  During this first tour he also won two Air Metals with 12 Oak Leaf Clusters.

After this first tour, he was transferred to RAF Lakenheath, England, where he upgraded to the F-4 and in 1972 assigned to his second tours in Vietnam (DaNang AFB).  He was awarded two more Air metals and 3 more Oak Leaf Clusters (a total of 4 Air metals and 15 Oak Leaf Clusters).

In 1974 he was transferred to 9^th Airforce at Shaw AFB SC.  He worked to bring the F-16 into the AirForce inventory and authored a joint forces exercise program called Red-Flag, still in practice to this day at his hometown (Nellis AFB) Las Vegas.  After many years of correspondence courses through the University of Maryland, Douglas was able to take two semesters at the University of Tampa completing his degree and graduating Magna Cum Laude.

After the AirForce, he moved his family back to his hometown of Las Vegas, initially working for a chemical company called PEPCON in Henderson Nevada.  He began a career at the start of the computer age, working for CPT, a company that manufactured Word Processors, the prelude to the desktop computer.  Douglas handled Federal Marketing, moving from Las Vegas to Riverside CA and finally to the corporate HQ for CPT in Minneapolis Minnesota.  He completed his career with Silicon Graphics, moving to Madison Alabama where he eventually retired.

Douglas was a very proud father, grandfather and great grandfather and would challenge his whole family to live a life without limits or bounds, he would often say, “if you aim high and come up short, you’re still in better shape than if you aim low and hit”.   

For Douglas, God, Country and Family were one and the same. When he was thanked for his military service, he would say it is my honor, duty and responsibility.  He leaves behind a rich legacy, his three children John Cook (Pamela), Mark Cook (Justine), Marian Pepper (Marty), 8 grandchildren Jennifer Benedetto, Catherine Hopkins (Jeffrey), Jillian Cook, Kaitlyn Cunningham (Matthew), Connor Cook, Michael Cook, Marlayna Dotson, Kayla Camp  and 7 great grandchildren Isabella Benedetto, Vincent Benedetto, Keira Roumeliotis, Caleb Hopkins and Ariana Hopkins, Oliver Dotson and Harper Camp.

He will be greatly missed.

Services will be held on Wednesday June 19th at:

Most Merciful Jesus Catholic Parish

10509 Segers Road

Madison Alabama 35756

Visitation at 10:30 a.m.

Funeral Mass at 11:00 a.m.