By the Family

Sep. 21, 2016:  Charles David Cook, Esq., 92, a former resident of Manhattan and Bronxville, passed away on September 3, 2016, at Noble Horizons in Salisbury, CT. Professionally, Mr. Cook was a diplomat, international lawyer, and arbitrator.

Born in Saginaw, MI, in 1924 to Mrs. Grace and Dr. Charles Cook, he graduated from the University of Michigan. During WWII, he was selected for the elite Japanese Language Program of the U.S. Navy and then served as an intelligence officer in the Pacific Theater. 

After the war, he received degrees in law and international affairs from Columbia University. During the Cold War, he "waged peace" as a member of the U.S. Mission to the United Nations from 1950 to 1962, serving under Ambassadors Warren Austin, Henry Cabot Lodge, James Wadsworth, and Adlai Stevenson, as chief of the political section.

He was a founding partner of Barco, Cook, Patton, and Blow, the law firm that became Patton, Boggs, and Blow. He went on to corporate law at General Telephone and Electronics (GTE) International, rising to general counsel, secretary, vice president, and director. 

In 1987, he became an international arbitrator. In Westchester, he was chairman of the Maxwell Institute, a trustee of the Bronxville Adult School, and chairman of the Bronxville Little Forum.

In 1947, he married Bobette R. Cook, a Juilliard-trained soprano, and with her, raised their two children, Ian and Kendra. She predeceased him in 1984. He was active in The Reformed Church, Boy Scout Troop 1, and the Bronxville Field Club.

He relocated to Lakeville, CT, in the late 1980s, and in retirement, music became his passion. He joined the board of Music Mountain in Falls Village, became president of the HousaTonics barbershop chorus, and played saxophone with the Salisbury Band. He also was active in the Lake Wononscopomuc Association.  He met his second wife, Barbara L. Christen, in 1985, and they divided their time between Lakeville and New York City, where she led the Alliance for Downtown New York and was founding president of the nonprofit Futures and Options. She predeceased him in 2014.

He is survived by his children and their families, Ian Cook, MD, his wife, Hallie, and their daughters, Natalie and Abigail, and Kendra Cook and her husband, William Perkins; and by three step-daughters and their families, Barbara and John Reeve and their son, daughter-in-law, and grandson, J. Edward, Katherine, and William; Suzanne Christen, Scott Park, and their son, Alexander; and Catherine Christen, Peter Leimgruber, and their son, Nikolas.

A memorial service will be held at the Congregational Church of Salisbury on October 15, at 11:00 am, with a reception immediately following in the parish hall.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorial donations be made to his musical mainstays, Music Mountain (musicmountain.org) and the HousaTonics (housatonics.org).