THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 31, 1996 TAG: 9603290187
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 07 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: On The Street
SOURCE: Bill Reed
LENGTH: Medium: 81 lines
The big fella would appear every morning at school, check in with the principal and go on hall duty, just as he had done when he worked there full time for 33 years as a coach and shop teacher.
If any of the youngsters at Virginia Beach Middle School needed to be transported to a doctor or needed a pair of replacement glasses in a hurry, Jim Cook was the ``go to'' guy.
He would jump in his car and run the errands and maybe even pick up snacks and some supplies for the staff on the return trip.
Although he was retired, the school became a regular way station in Cook's daily rounds, say hotelier Jimmy Capps and former boss Lee Scarborough.
The first stop of the day - generally at 6 a.m. - was at Mary's Restaurant on 17th Street, several blocks from the Oceanfront. There Cook would sip coffee and swap yarns or gossip with Beach cronies like Ivan Mapp, Buddy Riggs or Neal Owen, then table hop to advise breakfasting politicians on how to run the affairs of the city or state.
The second destination was the school when it opened its doors for classes. After that, he would head for a few favorite Oceanfront convenience stores or lunch counters to chat with clerks or customers.
These were news gathering forays as well as friendly encounters for big Jim. He delighted in passing on tidbits of intelligence he had accumulated on his daily rounds. He seemed to know everybody and everything that went on at the Beach Borough, a closely knit community that retains its small-town flavor and vitality despite its attachment to the massive suburban sprawl known as Virginia Beach.
Principal Don Harvey developed a strong bond with Cook in his five years as chief administrator of Virginia Beach Middle School. Harvey has displayed his affection for the shambling, bearlike man by seeing to it that a median strip cut-through - used to route buses to the front of the building - was named in Cook's honor, christening the 400 hall at the school Jim Cook Hall and declaring a ``Jim Cook Day'' at the school.
The observance honoring Cook was organized by Harvey, his school staff and his students. It was presided over by Mayor Meyera Oberndorf and Beach Borough Councilman Linwood O. Branch III, who presented a proud and appreciative Cook with an official city street sign bearing his name.
Jim Cook came to Virginia Beach in 1953 as a strapping 28-year-old, a year or two out of the University of Georgia. He had played football there under famed coach Wally Butts and had blocked for Hall of Fame running back Charlie Trippi as a 230-pound tackle.
Cook had been summoned to the Beach by Fred Isaacs, head football coach at the brand new school, then known as Virginia Beach High. He became head track coach and assistant football coach under Isaacs, after several years of scholastic coaching experience in Fulton County, Ga.
He remained at the school through its transformations from high school to junior high and finally to middle school, until his retirement in 1985. Retirement, however, couldn't cut his ties to the school or the kids or teachers who passed through its halls.
``He felt that school belonged to him,'' explained Scarborough, principal of the facility from 1969 to 1981, when it was a junior high.
``There's no telling how many lives he has touched,'' added Capps, who had played under Cook as a high school lineman, then later taught and coached at the school as Cook's professional peer.
Big Jim Cook died March 15 in a Virginia Beach hospital after a long bout with cancer. An Oceanfront funeral service March 19 at Galilee Episcopal Church was held before a standing-room-only crowd that was ``bigger than the one they have at Christmas,'' said Harvey.
Cook's ashes were placed in the columbarium behind the church where, on most mornings, you can see the Atlantic breakers roll in and it's only a one-block stroll to the nearest 7-Eleven and a hot cup of coffee.
He leaves behind his wife of 46 years, Laura T. Cook; a daughter, Theresa Gray Hodge; a sister; and three grandchildren. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Jim Cook, who worked full time for 33 years as a coach and shop
teacher at what is now Virginia Beach Middle School, died March 15
after a long bout with cancer - but not before he was honored for
his long service to the school, even after his retirement.
by CNB