Ken Cook

Profile Updated: September 17, 2021
Ken Cook
Class Year: 1968
Residing In: Littleton, CO USA
Spouse/Partner: Linda McMahan
Occupation: Retired attorney/mediator
Military Service: USAF  
Children: I am the only child of my marriage.
Yes! Attending Reunion
Comments:

I started college at the Univ. of Maine in the fall of 1968. While home in the summer of 1969, I visited my HS girlfriend, Julia Friend, at Radford College in VA. I was with her when Apollo 11 first landed on the moon.

I started dating Barbara Henderson, FHHS '70, in 1970 and took her to her senior prom. I transferred colleges in 1972 to be w/ Barb. I graduated Fla State Univ in 1973 and joined the Air Force. Barb helped pin on my 2nd Lt bars in 1974. We separated in 1975 but stay in contact to this day.

My pilot-training class had been eliminated due to the fuel crisis of 1973, so I was waiting for a new class assignment when I applied for law school in 1975. Orders for pilot-training and my acceptance to law school both arrived by the end of 1975 . . . and both started on the same day in Jan 1976! I opted for law school.

I graduated from Stetson Law School in St. Petersburg, FL, in Dec '78 and moved to Colo Spgs, CO. I was a law clerk for 2 years and started practicing law in 1981. I became a partner in a 10-man law firm and practiced general civil law in Colo Spgs until 1991.

In 1980 I was trained as a mediator. During my entire law practice, I volunteered as a mediator at night and on weekends. When I left the law firm in 1991, I became a contract mediator for the state of Colorado, a position I held until 1995 when I was hired as a mediator by the U.S. Justice Department. That position ended in 1998 when I transferred to the Social Security Administration to allow my wife to become the Acting U.S. Attorney for Colorado.

I met Linda McMahan, Attorney/Capt., U.S. Army, in 1981 when she came into our courtroom while I was clerking for the Chief Dist. Ct. judge. I asked her out, but she refused. Exactly one year later, to the week, we briefly met again. I again asked her out, but for 3 months she again refused. Finally, in Jan 1983, we started dating. Six months later the Army transferred her away . . . to Ft. Belvoir, VA! The same Ft. Belvoir where I had dated all through high school and college summers (my Dad was military), gone to the theater and officer's club, and worked at the commissary and gas station. I showed Linda around her new post and helped her buy a townhouse in Springfield and we got engaged.

We married in May of 1984. Linda left the Army and returned to Colo where I had made partner in my law firm. Linda was a prosecutor for the state for 7 years when she was hired by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Denver in 1991, the same year I left my firm. We therefore moved to Littleton (12 miles south of Denver) in 1995. In 1998 Linda was named Acting U.S. Attorney for Colorado (which is why I had to leave the office).

Several months later the shootings at Columbine HS occurred (Columbine HS is 1.5 miles from our home) and Congress approved a new U.S. Attorney for Colorado. Linda then went back to being a line prosecutor in the office.

In 1999, after working at the Social Security office for 1.5 years, I left to return to college full time. My original reason for joining the Air Force had been to try to become an astronaut. When I had to choose between pilot training and law school in 1975, I decided being an astronaut was a pipe dream and I should try something more practical. Hence, law school.

Although I practiced law for 10 years, I was never fully satisfied. Mediation made me feel more a part of the solution, rather than the problem, but, when that position ended in 1998, I felt adrift. Linda suggested I follow my dream and return to college for an engineering degree (as the only way to becoming an astronaut, since I had not gone to pilot training).

Thus, at 49 years old, I returned to college full time, taking calculus, physics, and chemistry at my local community college for a year. I was then accepted into aerospace engineering at the Univ of Colo in Boulder, the #4 school in the country for producing astronauts (15 graduates have flown in space). I spent 1.5 years there full-time, living in a basement apartment and coming home on weekends. School days were 16 hours (8 am to midnight), with labs and a tutor. In my junior year they bumped the math up one more level and my poor brain reached its limit. I left school at the end of 2001 with no degree, but much richer for the experience.

I then started working as the in-house counsel for a small business and eventually became manager of the store. That business was Caboose Hobbies, "The World's Largest Model Train Store" as certified by the Guinness Book of World's Records in 2014. When the store owners retired in 2016 and sold the store, I, too, retired. Linda retired 9 months before me.

My first order of business after retirement was to complete a new train layout I designed 30 years ago and started 20 years ago. It took 2.5 years of concentrated effort, but I finished the project in July 2019. The story and photographs of that layout will soon be published in "Classic Toy Trains" magazine in the summer or fall of this year, 2020.

I'm now involved with several model train groups and Linda plays tennis. We both enjoy reading and spend our extra time traveling, including bicycle tours. We have taken 5 such trips to date (4 in Europe) and in 2014 did a 2-week bicycle tour of New Zealand (where I made a bungee jump).
Between 2016 and 2019 we traveled to China, Japan, and Australia.

If you are every in Denver, please call and come visit.

School Story:

Remember the movie "Remember the Titans"? As I watched the movie, I expected to see "Titans vs Ft. Hunt" flash on the screen. It was 1967 and I was the quarterback for that game. We played to a 0-0 tie in the rain. It seems my play was the only one working that night . . . QB-keeper around the end . . . time and time again.

A photographer was there for the Gazette and he had an automatic-advance camera. He took lots of sequential shots of Don Oliver leading me around the end. In one memorable shot, he caught me in the classic Heisman Trophy pose stiff-arming the Titan left defensive end, #87.

Flash forward 10 years. College is over, I've been in and out of the Air Force, and I'm now in law school in Fla. One late night as I was leaving the library, I started a conversation w/ a fellow student. Where are you from; where did you go to college; high school? He went to high school in VA. Where? T.C. Williams. When did you graduate? 1968. Did you play football? Yes. What position? Left defensive end. What was your number? #87!

The next day I showed him the picture. Amazing. Eerie.

How often do you get back to Alexandria?

Although I have a sister who lives just north of Georgetown, and both parents are buried in Arlington National Cemetery, I don't get back to visit Alexandria very often.

Do you still see/talk to/hang out with any classmates? Who?

After we threw ourselves a group 60th birthday party in 2010 in Ft. Meyers, I started a 3-yr online conversation w/ Tammy Hill Harless and Bonnie Craigmile England about religion. After that, Tammy and I have stayed in fairly constant contact.

What would we be surprised to know about you?

I collect old Lionel trains and had a layout all through high school. I still have a home layout and 7 of us take a 40 ft x 12 ft modular layout to shows in the area. I'm the scenery and weathering guy.

What are your memories of high school (i.e. secret crush, embarrassing moment, funniest thing you did in high school, favorite high school hang out, favorite teachers)?

Memories: Football, Hot Shoppes, Julia Friend.

Embarrassing moment: Getting caught at 4 am sneaking back home after a clandestine rendezvous w/ Julia.

Funny caper: While running for office, I snuck up on the roof of the school and suspended a sign that read "Look to Cook" across the second story inner courtyard.

Biggest thing you would do differently if you went back to your time at high school?

I would try to make more friends, ie, reach out to others.

Ken's Latest Interactions

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Ken Cook has a birthday today.
Feb
08
Feb 08, 2024 at 4:33 AM
Ken Cook has left an In Memory comment for Richard "Dickie" Andrews.
Jul
11
Jul 11, 2023 at 5:14 PM

I didn't know Dickie personnally, but I recognize his picture.  I find it interesting Linda Davis of our class said she "always knew she was safe if Dickie was around."  Quite the compliment, so, as she said, he must have been a "good man."

Did anyone notice the Death Notice from 2008 Joe recently sent said Dickie was "born January 17, 1959"?  I'm sure that was a typo b/c it also shows Dickie's age as "58" (in 2008).  I just wanted to see if we had a 9 year old graduate with us--wouldn't that have been special!   

Ken Cook has left an In Memory comment for John England.
Feb 13, 2023 at 11:42 AM

I, too, was saddened to hear of John's passing.  He was fine person and a real gentleman.  John cared about people and always had a smile for everyone.  He was continually upbeat, a characteristic I found admirable and infectious.  John's approach to life and people seemed to lightened the load for everyone he encountered . . . a gift he unknowingly shared with me many times.  Farewell, John--you will be missed.

Bonny, please know many of us are holding you close to our hearts, too, feeling your loss, sending you strength, and wishing dearly to ease your sorrow. 

Ken Cook, FHHS 1968

 

Ken Cook has a birthday today.
Feb 08, 2023 at 4:33 AM
Ken Cook posted a message.
Sep 10, 2022 at 9:41 AM

Happy Birthday, Julia! Hope you are doing well. The FH gang would love to hear from you. Linda (wife) & I still live in Colo. Please call or write sometime. Ken.cook@comcast.net or 303 588-3227.

Ken Cook has a birthday today.
Feb 08, 2022 at 4:33 AM
Ken Cook posted a message.
Sep 17, 2021 at 6:44 PM

The current edition of Classic Toy Trains magazine, Sept 2021, has a feature article on my new layout starting on p. 44. Please see "Photo Galleries" in column on left, then "Other Federals' Gatherings," and "Casual Gatherings" for more pictures. Classmate Tammy Hill Harless and her husband Dave just visited to see the layout. Picture coming.

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May 27, 2021 at 9:50 AM
Ken Cook has a birthday today.
Feb 08, 2021 at 4:33 AM
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Feb 08, 2020 at 4:35 AM
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Sep 17, 2021 at 5:56 PM

Posted on: Jan 24, 2020 at 11:13 AM

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Jan 24, 2020 at 10:53 AM
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Jan 24, 2020 at 10:52 AM
Ken Cook posted a message.
Jul 06, 2018 at 3:34 PM

Hi Jim. Sorry you'll miss our 50th reunion, but since Joe's alert mentioned you'd be leading a tour up the coast of Maine, I thought I'd write. I did football and track for 4 years at FH and dated Julia Friend all 4 years. I was born in Maine, but left when I was 3. I returned to start college, then transferred my senior year (like you, to follow a girl). I had 3 roommates during my 4 years at The Univ. of Me: one from Old Orchard Beach; one from Owl's Head near Camden (Jim), and one from West Yarmouth, Mass (Todd). All places I'm sure you're familiar with. Jim is the minister who married me and Todd was my best man. Our family owns property along China Lake east of Augusta and I did my first open water scuba dive at Bar Harbor. Thus, I'm very familiar w/ the area where you live, although it's been 30 years since I've been back. I now live in Littleton, Colo. Feel free to visit some time. Ken Cook

PS: Since you say you like mechanical things that go fast and you did auto repair and restoration, I thought I'd attach a picture of my "old Chevy."

Ken Cook posted a message.
Jun 26, 2018 at 11:58 PM

Hi Andy. I just saw you get the nod(s) of approval on America's Got Talent. Congratulations! Way to follow your dream. I liked your material and wished you had stayed on longer. Ken Cook, FHHS, 1968.

Ken Cook has left an In Memory comment for Don Oliver.
Jun 06, 2018 at 12:33 PM

Gordon Jackson is right--"some obits are harder to process than others" . . . and it has taken me awhile to absorb the passing of Don Oliver.  Don and I played football together for 4 years, thus I knew him best as an athlete, but he was also a remarkable student and a student leader.  In his many rolls, he touched and influenced many people, all for the best.  I'm looking at an 8x10 glossy of Don leading me around right end in our game with West Springfield.  Yes, that was Don--always leading the way.  Go strongly, my friend.  You will be missed and the world is diminished by your passing . . . WE are diminished by your departure.

 

Ken Cook posted a message. New comment added.
Apr 21, 2018 at 2:02 PM

Posted on: Apr 21, 2018 at 10:25 AM

Hi Janis. Like you say, w/ a class of about 500 it was hard to know or remember a lot of folks, but I remember you, too. You and I both moved west. I came to Colorado in 1979 after law school. Hope to see you at the reunion. Ken Cook

Ken Cook posted a message. New comment added.
Jan 28, 2018 at 1:56 PM

Posted on: Jan 28, 2018 at 12:11 PM

Hi Karen. Glad your move to Wilmington went well. Have you had a chance to contact Tammy Hill Harless in Salisbury? Alexis and I met for lunch in June (I'll try to attach a pic), then, in July, Alexis and I met Bruce Huester for lunch near DIA when he was passing through. Take care and hopefully we can stay in touch. 303 588 3227 iPhone/text. ken.cook@comcast.net

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Posted: Jan 24, 2020 at 11:13 AM
Posted: Dec 17, 2013 at 1:23 AM
I like old cars. I drove a 1960 TR-3 at Ft. Hunt and had it until 1978 when it was stolen. Here's my current ride, a 1963 Split-window Corvette, just after it was restored.