Mary Elizabeth Cook

Mary Elizabeth Cook was born on October 5, 1937, in Annapolis, Maryland, the daughter of Theodore Pindell, Sr. and Ethelyn Herring, formerly Pindell. Mary’s mother and father preceded her in death. Mary has two siblings: a sister, Joan Gaines; and a brother, Theodore Pindell Jr.

Mary, Joan, and their mother moved from Annapolis to Washington, D.C. in 1950. Mary is a proud product of the District of Columbia public school system, one school of which she credits with sending her the love of her life. More on that later.

Mary graduated from Kelly Miller Jr. High School in 1952 and from Cardozo Senior High School in 1955. Mary’s stay at Cardozo was especially memorable. She was molded and shaped as a young teenager by the special teachers at Cardozo. She has always been a very proud graduate of her beloved Cardozo. Cardozo is special for another very important time in Mary’s life. That is where she met her high school sweetheart – Willie Cook. Mary and Willie started dating when they were both sixteen years old. Mary was in the 11th grade, and Willie was in the 12th grade.

This is one of the greatest love stories of the century. They met by happenstance. Mary and her sister Joan were both being inducted into the Cardozo Chapter of the National Honor Society. Mary was always a brilliant student, so she was getting her due recognition. Willie has told this story many, many times during the last 70 years. Willie said he was stopped dead in his tracks — stunned — the first time he saw Mary. He had never seen a young lady so beautiful, with that mini-skirt, and such gorgeous legs.

Willie said he had to find a way to get to know Mary better. So, as a part of Mary’s initiation into the National Honor Society, Willie had Mary carry his books from class to class. That was the beginning of a beautiful love story.

Willie and Mary got married on July 18, 1959, and recently celebrated their 66th wedding anniversary. What Willie found out during the 70 years that they have known each other is that Mary has an abundance of inner beauty that attracts all who come in contact with her. Mary and Willie were blessed with two sons, Darrell and Gregory, who have always made them proud. Willie would frequently say, many times during the last 70 years, that Mary is one of the sweetest women on earth, devoted to her family, with uncommon love of a wife and mother, and that she is a classy lady, whom he respects so much.

Though Willie was initially attracted to that classic 16-year old beauty called Mary Cook, what he really grew to cherish was the beautiful 66 years of marriage to a devoted woman, with uncommon grace and character.

Mary had a long and distinguished career at the University of the District of Columbia (UDC). She worked for UDC for 34 years, until she retired in July, 2003. What is now called UDC was a fractured collection of several colleges for years before they were consolidated. Mary worked in one of those colleges until UDC was consolidated. She worked in administration for about 10 years, until she was appointed as Special Administrative Assistant to the UDC President in 1980. This was an extremely important promotion because this is where Mary became the most essential go-to person at UDC for administrative policy positions, past and present. Unfortunately, UDC presidents were frequently removed from their positions at the beginning of consolidation. One of Mary’s responsibilities was to be the information bridge for all incoming UDC presidents.

Mary’s value to UDC was made abundantly clear at her retirement luncheon in 2003. There were four ex-UDC presidents in attendance. Each of them lauded Mary’s superior administrative skills and praised the high quality of her long tenure at UDC. Mary was always too humble about her major contributions to the development of UDC. The prior UDC presidents, students, and faculty members have no doubt about this UDC jewel.

Mary leaves to cherish her memory: her loving and devoted husband of 66 years, Willie E. Cook, Jr.; a son, Darrell Cook; a son, Gregory Cook; a daughter-in-law, Martha Cook; a sister, Joan Gaines; a brother, Theodore Pindell, Jr.; a brother-in-law, Donald Gaines, Sr.; a nephew, Donald Gaines II (Tracy); a niece, Jody Richardson (Royal); a dear cousin, Shirley Perry; a nephew, Steven Gaskins (Deborah); a nephew, Kenneth Gaskins; a nephew, Rinaldo Richburg; and a host of other relatives and friends.

May your soul rest in peace

The Cook family invites you to join them in honoring the life of their beloved Mary Elizabeth Cook on Saturday, the ninth of August, at Fort Lincoln Funeral Home.

Visitation will begin at twelve o’clock in the afternoon, followed by a funeral service at one o’clock.

For those unable to attend in person, the service will be available to view via livestream by clicking https://client.tribucast.com/tcid/c25078348562983