Bill Text: VA HJR218 | 2010 | Regular Session | Enrolled
Bill Title: Celebrating the life of John Warren Cooke.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Passed) 2010-02-19 - House: Bill text as passed House and Senate (HJ218ER) [HJR218 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2010-HJR218-Enrolled.html
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WHEREAS, John Warren Cooke of Mathews County in Tidewater Virginia, an influential lawmaker for 38 years and a revered Speaker of the House of Delegates for 12 years, died on November 28, 2009, at the age of 94; and WHEREAS, John Warren Cooke was born in Mathews County on February 28, 1915, the son of his beloved mother, Katharine Grosh Cooke, and his then 76-year-old father, the Rev. Giles B. Cooke, who had served on General Robert E. Lee's staff during the Civil War; and WHEREAS, John Warren Cooke graduated from Lee-Jackson High School in Mathews, attended the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, and returned to his hometown to work for the Mathews County government, serving as a clerk for the school board and performing other clerk duties for the county; and WHEREAS, a devoted family man, John Warren Cooke married Anne Brown Rawn of Huntington, West Virginia, and the loving couple had a son and a daughter; and WHEREAS, by profession, John Warren Cooke was a successful newspaperman, serving as the president and a board member of Tidewater Newspapers, Inc., in Gloucester and the publisher of the Gloucester-Mathews Gazette-Journal; and WHEREAS, John Warren Cooke was first elected to the House of Delegates in 1941 by the citizens of Mathews and Gloucester Counties; and by 1971, his growing district included the residents of King and Queen, King William, and Essex Counties; and WHEREAS, Delegate Cooke became a respected senior statesman of the House of Delegates and was chosen as head of the Democratic Caucus in 1950 and majority floor leader in 1956; and WHEREAS, Delegate Cooke was elected Speaker of the House of Delegates on January 10, 1968; and in that same year, he co-sponsored the Virginia Freedom of Information Act; and WHEREAS, well-known for his quick wit, even-handedness, and gentility, Speaker Cooke helped bring a welcomed bipartisan spirit to the General Assembly; and WHEREAS, Speaker Cooke was an able leader and lawmaker, and he worked diligently to enact important legislation for the people of the Commonwealth; and WHEREAS, after his retirement from the General Assembly in 1980, John Warren Cooke remained involved in his community and immensely interested in the affairs of state government; he continued to work as the publisher of the weekly newspaper Gloucester-Mathews Gazette-Journal until March 2009; and WHEREAS, John Warren Cooke generously gave his time and expertise to many civic organizations, including as a member of the Virginia-Maryland Potomac River Commission and the Jamestown Anniversary Commission; as an executive committee chair of the Virginia Civil War Centennial Commission; as president of the old Tidewater Baseball League; as a board member of the National Legislative Association, the Tidewater Telephone Company, the Bank of Gloucester, the Tidewater Automobile Association, the J. Edwin Treakle Foundation, The College of William & Mary Endowment Association, the Long Bridge Ordinary Foundation, the Mathews Historical Society, and the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation; as a charter member and president of the Mathews Rotary Club; and as chair of the Mathews Ration and Price Control Board; and WHEREAS, John Warren Cooke was awarded honorary doctoral degrees from both The College of William & Mary and Christopher Newport University; and WHEREAS, John Warren Cooke received many awards and accolades over the years for his outstanding public service, such as the National Legislative Leaders Association Award, the Gloucester Chamber of Commerce Distinguished Service Award, a Council of State Governments citation, and the Liberty Bell Award; and WHEREAS, John Warren Cooke was a faithful member and leader of Kingston Episcopal Parish and a participant in the parish's many missions in the community; and WHEREAS, John Warren Cooke will be fondly remembered and greatly missed by his wife of 62 years, Anne Brown Rawn Cooke; his two children, Giles Buckner Cooke III and Elsa VanNess Cooke Verbyla; his many relatives and friends; his colleagues on both sides of the aisle; and the citizens of the Commonwealth; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly mourn the loss of one of its admired former members, John Warren Cooke; and, be it RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the family of John Warren Cooke as an expression of the General Assembly's respect for his memory. |
