Colonel (Ret) John William Cooke, Jr., age 84, of Cumming, passed away on January 4, 2014 at Embracing Hospice in Cumming. Funeral Services will be held 11:00 am Thursday, January 9, 2014 at St. Columba’s Episcopal Church, 939 James Burgess Road Suwanee, Georgia 30024, with Rev. Tripp Norris officiating. Interment, with full military honors, will follow in Green Lawn Cemetery, Roswell.
Colonel Cooke was born to John William Cooke, Sr. and Marie (Ridings) Cooke in Greenville, MS on December 22, 1929; and grew up in Marigold, MS with his sister, Ann. He graduated from West Point in 1952 with a B.S. in Engineering, and from George Washington University, where he earned a Masters in International Affairs. He married Marianna Mitchell on June 28, 1952. They had four children, John William IV (Deceased), Thomas Mitchell Cooke, Catherine Cooke Polkinghorne, and Kathleen Cooke Olexa.
Colonel Cooke served in the U.S. Army from 1952 to 1979, serving in both the Korean and Vietnam Wars. He was a member of the UK Joint Staff College and the Joint Chief of Staff in Washington DC. He retired with a rank of Colonel in 1979. After military service, John served as President of Simons Eastern Engineering from 1981 until his retirement in 1995.
John is survived by his wife, Marianna. Son, Thomas Cooke and his wife, Nancy; daughter Catherine Pokinghorne and her husband, Scott; daughter, Kathleen Olexa and her husband, George (Ron). Sister, Ann Cooke Metzgar and her husband, Richard.
In lieu of flowers memorials may be made to the West Point Alumni Association, www.westpointaog.org.
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