James "Jim" Ellsworth Cook
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James Ellsworth (Jim) Cook passed away at the Mission, Blue Skies of Texas Retirement Village, San Antonio, TX on September 10, 2020, at the age of 96 years,11 months. Jim was born in Eureka, KS on October 20, 1923 to Al Joseph and Snow Flake Ballinger Cook. He is survived by two daughters: Ardis Hutchins of Madison, WI and Nixie Ritter of Colorado Springs, CO, two sons; James Mitchell Cook of Houston, TX and Randy Cook of Reading, MI; a brother; Sidney Cook of Arlington, TX; eight grandchildren and two great grandchildren. Jim was preceded in death by his wife of 65 years, Muriel Faythe Beason Cook, his parents and brother Charles Edwin Cook.
Jim grew up living on farms in Kansas and Oklahoma. He graduated from Wyandotte High School, Wyandotte, Oklahoma in 1941. He enlisted in the U.S. Marines shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor and served four years.
During World War II Jim was with the Marine Air Corps as an airplane mechanic in the South Pacific. He and his squadron flew supplies into battle zones and carried out wounded, many times under hostile fire. It was during his WWII service that he met the love of his life, Muriel Beason.
After the war he attended college, assisted by the GI Bill, graduating with a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from Oklahoma A&M, now Oklahoma State University. He was a member of the first OSU graduating class in Veterinary Medicine, 1951. He served on the staff in OSU's Department of Pathology from 1951 - 1953.
In 1953 he returned to the military, receiving a commission in the U.S. Air Force and rising to the rank of Lt Colonel before retiring in 1969. While in the service he became a Board-Certified Pathologist and earned a PhD Degree in Veterinary Pathology from Kanas State University.
In the Air Force, Jim was very involved in the early years of the Space program. He was Officer in Charge of the animal colony and the lab's chief pathologist at Holloman AFB, NM, providing care for the animals who preceded man into space. He was the veterinarian who went to the Cameroons and purchased the first 20 baby chimpanzees for the Space program. He loved all the animals but was fondest of the Chimpanzees. Two of his chimps, Ham and Enos, traveled into space before John Glenn orbited the earth. After working with the Space program, he returned to Walter Reed Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Washington, D.C. until his retirement from the Air Force in 1969.
Jim started his second career as a professor at Kansas State University in the College of Veterinary Medicine. He became Head of the Department of Veterinary Pathology and Director of Animal Resources at KSU. He retired after 20 years at age 65.
Jim and Muriel remained in their home in Manhattan, KS until 2003, when they moved to Air Force Village 1 retirement community, (Currently Blue Skies of TX) San Antonio, TX. They celebrated 65 years of marriage while living in Texas.
Dr. Cook will be remembered as kind and generous gentleman. He was an avid reader. He held K State season basketball tickets for 20+ years and was always up for a game of dominoes. He enjoyed the TV series, Gunsmoke, never missing an episode, and in later years, watching reruns on DVD. He was a loving husband, father and faithful servant of God and his country. He will be missed by his family and friends.
Private memorial services will be held at Ft Sam Houston National Cemetery, September 25, 2020.
Memorial donations should be made to the James E. and Muriel F. Cook Endowment for Veterinary Medicine Fund, Kansas State University Foundation.
Arrangements by Tondre-Guinn Funeral Home, 1016 Lorenzo Street, Castroville, Texas 78009, (830) 931-2221. Visit www.tondre-guinn.com