Bruce Cooke

The Reverend Bruce Henry Cooke, a retired Episcopal priest and chaplain, Brigadier General, United States Air Force Reserve (Ret.) died March 6, 2017 at University Place in West Lafayette, Indiana. He lived with his beloved wife, Janice Mullen Cooke, at Smith Mountain Lake, Virginia from 1988 to 2009, before moving to West Lafayette. Bruce was born June 14, 1923 in Flint, Michigan, the only child of Herschel Emery Cooke and Alena (Green) Cooke. He was educated in the public schools of Flint and attended Kalamazoo College. After World War II, he was trained as a meteorologist in the U.S. Air Corps and then went to the University of Michigan for a bachelor’s degrees in geology. Bruce received a master’s degree from the Episcopal Theological School, Cambridge, MA and the University of Maryland. Bruce served as a college chaplain and in parishes in Michigan, Wyoming, Missouri, Iowa and Virginia. Throughout his ministry Bruce remained active in the Air Force Reserve and the Air National Guard, attaining his general’s rank as mobilization augmentee to the Air Force chief of chaplains. In his final tour of duty, from his office at the Pentagon, he directed the chaplain program for the entire Air National Guard. Upon retirement in 1988, the Cookes moved to Smith Mountain Lake. Here Bruce was a volunteer pastor for the Trinity Ecumenical Parish in its earliest days, performed pastoral services, and helped in the structuring of this unique Episcopal-Lutheran-Presbyterian congregation. On the 50th anniversary of his ordination, the memorial garden at Trinity Ecumenical Parish was named in his honor, the Moneta Lions Club designated him a Melvin Jones Fellow, and in 2009 the Moneta Ruritan Club named him “Man of the Year.” Bruce attended Central Presbyterian Church in Lafayette, IN, was a member of the Lafayette Kiwanis Club and was active in a number of capacities in his retirement community. Bruce and his first wife, Betty Lou Jockwig, had six children: the late Sari C. Hawkins, Newton, IA; Alison C. Lantz (Dale), Boise, ID; Bruce D. Cooke, Alexandria, VA; Dana S. Cooke (Vikki), Cedar Falls, IA; Kristin C. Crafton (Danny), Andalusia, IL; and Katrina C. Loving (Brett), Davenport, IA. Through his marriage to Janice he gained three loving step-children: David M. Warner (Charlotte), West Lafayette, IN; Judith M Warner (Terry), Birmingham, AL; and Carol W. Golder (David), Winnetka, IL. Thus he has enjoyed 19 grandchildren and 9 great grandchildren, with all but one surviving. Memorial Services will be held at University Place, 1700 Lindberg Rd., West Lafayette, IN at 2:00 on Saturday, March 11 and his ashes will be interred in the Bruce H. Cooke Memorial Garden at Trinity Ecumenical Parish, Moneta, VA at 10:00 on Saturday, March 18. Memorial gifts may be made to the University Place Foundation, Central Presbyterian Church, or a charity of your choice. Memories and condolences may be left at www.hahngroeberfuneralhome.com