Herbert M. Cook Sr.

Herbert Merrel Cook Sr. passed away peacefully in the presence of his adoring family at Christopher House in Austin, TX on Wednesday December 4, 2019. Herb was born November 2, 1923 in Austin, TX directly in the middle of current day HWY 290 just west of HWY 183. He spent most of his childhood in the Cherrywood/Manor Road corridor, which at the time constituted the outer extent of the city of Austin. He ran with a group from that neighborhood who called themselves the “East Avenue Boys”; hunting, fishing and exploring the pasture land and creek bottoms of what is now East Austin. He graduated from Austin High School and began attending the University of Texas at Austin. He put his studies on hold after 2 years to volunteer for military service. In July 1942, Herb entered the U.S. Navy and was commissioned as an Ensign after completing OCS at Cornell University. He served as a naval navigator in the air wing of the Navy and was honorably discharged from active service in July 1946. After the war he returned to UT and completed his degree in Civil Engineering. Upon graduation in 1948, he began working for the Agriculture Stabilization Conservation Service - briefly finding himself in Uvalde, then ultimately Laredo, TX.

He married his wife Agnes “Aggie” Zimmerhanzel on January 28, 1950 and together they lived in Laredo until 1962. During their 12 years in Laredo, they had two children: son, Herbert Jr., and daughter, Margo. In the first years of marriage, Aggie and Herb would frequently cross the border into Nuevo Laredo to socialize and party with friends, often into the wee hours of the morning. During his time with ASCS, Herb helped engineer and oversee the construction of irrigation projects all over the Lower Rio Grande Valley. In 1962 Herb and Aggie returned to Austin. Herb began working for the Texas Water Development Board, where he worked until his retirement in 1981. Following retirement, Herb and Aggie traveled the world, but his favorite place on Earth always remained the back porch of his farmhouse near Tanglewood, TX in Lee County, overlooking cow pasture and stands of post oak. He was active in his church, First Cumberland Presbyterian, for over 50 years. He had a voracious curiosity for all number of subjects and a brilliant mind (he learned to use a computer and navigate the internet at age 89). Herb maintained his sharp wit and easy grace until his final day. He was a sterling example of his, The Greatest Generation. He will be sorely missed by all who knew him.

Herb was preceded in death by his father Cyrus Lee Cook and mother Blanche Moore Cook. He is survived by his wife Agnes, son Herb Jr. and his wife Dorothy, daughter Margo Portillo and her husband Juan, and grandchildren Matthew Portillo, Christopher Portillo and wife Kelly McGettigan, and Michael Portillo and wife Jessie.

A Funeral Service will be held at Cook-Walden Funeral Home, 6100 N. Lamar on Tuesday, December 10 at 11:00 a.m., with interment at Cook-Walden Capital Parks at 2:30 PM the same day. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Herb’s memory to Hospice Austin, 4107 Spicewood Springs Road, Suite 100, Austin, TX 78759, or a charity of your choice.