L.T. Cook
Funeral Tuesday For Breck’s Cook
BRECKENRIDGE (RNS) – Funeral for L.T. Cook, 89, retired school superintendent
and teacher, will be at 2 p.m. Tuesday in First Baptist Church with the Rev.
James Thomas, pastor, officiating.
Burial will be in Breckenridge Cemetery under the direction of Melton Funeral
Home.
Mr. Cook, who retired from the teaching profession in 1943, died at 2:30 a.m.
Monday in Stephens Memorial Hospital following an illness of several months.
The new L.T. Cook Gymnasium on the Breckenridge High School campus stands as a
memorial to the man who brought organized athletics to the local school system
and served as superintendent her from 1921 through 1929. The building was
dedicated in May, 1969, and bears a plaque attesting to his interest in sports
as well as to scholastic excellence.
An avid sports fan, Mr. Cook got the athletic program well under way here before
he became superintendent of schools in Sherman in 1930, a position he held until
his retirement.
He was one of the organizers of the Texas Interscholastic League and set up the
student records system still in use at Breckenridge High School, termed “the
most adequate in the state” by former School Board President James Rominger.
Mr. Cook returned to Breckenridge in 1943 and lived here until his death.
Prior to coming to Breckenridge, he taught school in Hill County, ____mas,
Carlisle, Select School for Boys (now the University of Texas at Arlington) and
was superintendent of schools at Strawn for ten years.
Born May 8, 1881, in Mississippi, he came to Texas as an infant. He grew up in
Hill County and graduated from Patterson Institute. He received his bachelor’s
degree at North Texas State Teacher’s College and later earned his master’s
degree in psychology at the University of Colorado at the age of 49. He married
Eula Carter May 4, 1902, in Hillsboro. He was a member of First Baptist Church,
had been a deacon since age 21, and taught a Sunday School class for a number of
years.
Survivors are his wife; two daughters, Mrs. A.G. Chastain of Breckenridge and
Mrs. C.S. Edmiston of Weatherford; two sons, Lowell of Abilene and L.T. Jr. of
Sherman; two brothers, Lyman of Kilgore and Joe of Galveston; three sisters,
Mrs. Jessie Kennedy of Arlington, Mrs. Willie Conway of Euless and Mrs. Boyce
Pierce of New Jersey; and 10 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.
Two children preceded him in death.
The family has requested memorials to the building fund of First Baptist Church.
Pallbearers will be R.I. McArron, Robert O’Brien, Jim Wilkerson, Bill Creagh,
E.R. Maxwell, L.B. Cabe, J.D. Sandefer Jr. and E.A. Cain.
Honorary pallbearers will be members of the Roughneck Bible Class of First
Baptist Church.
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Services Today For L.T. Cook
Time ran out on the scoreboard of life for L.T. Cook Monday, but the retired
school superintendent had built up an insurmountable lead before the game ended.
“Mr. L.T.,” credited by many with turning Breckenridge High School into a
statewide leader in both academics and athletics, died at 2:30 a.m. Monday in
Stephens Memorial Hospital following an illness of several months. Funeral
services were held today at 2 p.m. in First Baptist Church with the Rev. James
Thomas, pastor, officiating.
Mr. Cook served as superintendent of schools in Breckenridge from 1921 until
1929. He returned here in 1943 after retiring as superintendent of Sherman
schools.
Last year the new high school gymnasium was officially dedicated as the L.T.
Cook Gymnasium in his honor. At that time, Wm. G. Arnot, now school board
president, declared, “Never has a building been named for a person which so
perfectly reflects the personality of that person than in this instance.”
Born May 8, 1881 in Mississippi, Mr. Cook came to Texas as an infant. He grew up
in Hill County and graduated from Patterson Institute. He received his
bachelor’s degree at North Texas State Teachers College and later earned a
masters degree in psychology at the University of Colorado at the age of 49.
Mr. Cook married Eula Carter May 4, 1902 in Hillsboro. He was an active member
of the First Baptist Church, taught Sunday School many years and served as a
deacon since he was 21 years old.
Last Update Saturday, 21-Sep-2024 17:42:44 MDT
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