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 Philip Cook
July 16, 2006
Philip Cook, 95, formerly of Liberty, N.Y., died on Sunday at his home at Devonshire Estates.
Born in Bronx, N.Y., on April 23, 1911, son of Lena and Isaac Cook, he attended local schools and received his bachelor's degree from City College in New York. He later earned several master's degrees from Columbia University.
He taught mathematics, history, English and special education in several schools near his home in Liberty, N.Y., where he moved in 1948. Prior to that, he was a physical education teacher at New York's prestigious Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts in New York. He continued teaching full-time until he reached age 85, capping a career that spanned more than 60 years.
In addition to his education career, he ran a summer business dealing in wholesale dairy products and serviced many of the major hotels, resorts and vacation colonies that flourished in the Catskill area of New York. He was a member of Knesset Israel Synagogue.
His beloved wife of 67 years, Rose Silinsky Cook, died in Nov. 2003.
He leaves two daughters, Linda Cook Ackerman of New York City and Somers, N.Y., and Nancy Cook of Hancock; a son, C. Jeffrey Cook of Pittsfield; nine grandchildren, and 13 great-grandchildren.
FUNERAL NOTICE -- Private funeral services for the extended family of Philip Cook, who died Sunday, July 16, 2006, will be conducted at the Knesset Israel Cemetery in Pittsfield, on Tuesday, July 18.
The family will receive friends during Shiva at the home of his son, C. Jeffrey Cook, 9 Palomino Dr., Pittsfield, on Tuesday with visitation from 7 to 9 p.m., and on Wednesday and Thursday from 2 to 4:30 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. Evening prayer services (Minyan) will be each day at 7:30 p.m. If friends desire, donations in his memory may be made to either the Israel Emergency Fund or HospiceCare in The Berkshires in care of DEVANNY-CONDRON FUNERAL HOME, 40 Maplewood Ave., Pittsfield, MA 01201.
He is also leaves a son-in-law, Bill Ackerman; a daughter-in-law, Judith Cook; his grandchildren, all of whom had special relationships with their "Zayde Phil," Rabbi David Ackerman and Naomi Shapiro, Ellen Ackerman Pollack and David Pollack, Rebecca Ackerman Bloom and Jeffrey Bloom, Daniel Ackerman and Yvette Rosario Ackerman, Elisa Cook Snowise and Dr. Mark Snowise, Laura Cook Blumberg and Stephen Blumberg, Daniel Cook, Jesse Cook-Dubin and Rebecca Jacobs Cook-Dubin, and Noah Cook-Dubin.
He was predeceased by his loving and devoted son-in-law, Larry Dubin. Phil Cook was the only member of his immediate family to be born in the United States, the youngest of seven surviving children of Lena and Isaac Cook. Only he and one other sibling, his sister, Esther, attended college and earned advanced degrees. Phil was a natural athlete, a born organizer, a leading educator, a gifted teacher, coach and recreational director, as well as a voracious reader, fiercely committed to family, friends, community and synagogue.
Mr. Cook was also a well known figure in the Catskill Mountain resort area surrounding Liberty, New York. His beloved wife, Rose Cook, died in November 2003. Throughout her long illness, Phil Cook was her caregiver, a labor of love that lasted for more than six years. His family remembers that he was never able to accept any action or decision that wasn't fair according to his high personal standards.
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