Tom Cook

This website and more specifically this "Highlighted Classmates" feature are Tom's efforts to make amends for his squandering of the many opportunities he has had over the years to develop deeper and more meaningful relationships with the wonderful classmates and others with whom he has crossed paths.  Every single acquaintance has a fascinating story to tell and he regrets missing opportunities to better explore those stories.

NOTE: This specific article was edited by classmate Kay Shattuck and Lorrie Shatzer DeFrank.

Tom has frequently described himself as "Norman Normal" in that he has enjoyed a life best described by the oxymoron "extraordinarily ordinary".  Through no fault or credit under his control he was born into a life as a heterosexual, male, white, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant, American, living in the Eastern Time Zone as a member of the population bulge known as the Baby Boomers.  None of those characteristics singles him out as exceptional, but also none of them has exposed him to discrimination or has required any significant compromises to fit in.  He is forever grateful that his path in life has been amazingly smooth and comfortable - far beyond his efforts and sacrifices.

He and his brother Tim were members of a family of four easily compared to "Ozzie, Harriet, David, and Ricky Nelson".  In college he met and dated June as a "person of interest" only to cross paths again four years later to discover that she was his soulmate and the love of his life.  Their 1973 marriage resulted in sons Dave (1976) and Doug (1979) and formed another family of four often described as "The Cleavers".  They already had their June.  Dave became an emergency physician in Charleston SC, married Emily, and formed his family of four with son Graham (2011) and daughter Grace (2013).  Son Doug became a commercial real estate leasing broker in Durham NC, married Bridget, and formed - as expected - a family of four with son Liam (2011) and son Finnegan (2012).  Are you noticing a pattern?

Tom graduated from Shippensburg State College, now University, in 1969 and immediately began teaching at Carlisle High School.  There he coached track and field for 29 years - 15 as boys' head coach - and taught math for 36 years - 12 as department chair.  In 2005 he retired from Carlisle to begin 11 semesters as a full-time adjunct math professor at Shippensburg University and Dickinson College.  He describes his duties as being a "rent-a-prof" teaching about 8 different courses from developmental math through calculus and statistics, as he temporarily replaced professors on leave or anyone who left unexpectedly.  He has had the true pleasure of teaching in parts of 6 decades from the 1960s through the 2010s.  Actually if you include his current occasional tutoring, you could count the 7th decade of the 2020s.  His students and athletes have been joys all along the way.

For many years Tom had often voiced his awareness of his good fortune in life and acknowledged that when that luck ran out, he had no room for complaint.  At age 55 it became time to test that promise.  In the span of 5 months Tom was faced with the not-unexpected death of his father, his own diagnosis of cancer, and the sudden and tragic traffic deaths of his brother Tim and sister-in-law Susan.  Tim was not only his only sibling, his frequent running partner for years, his fellow track coach and math teacher, but also his best confidante beyond his wife June.  The void still hurts but is softened by the relationships with their son Brian (1981), now a teacher in Cambodia, and their daughter Allison (1983) and her family of four - of course.  Allison's daughter Eloise (2014) and son Ryerson (2017) have become grandchildren in every way but direct bloodline.  Life has a way of sending joys to dispel sadness.

Any description of Tom's life would be incomplete without mentioning running, an activity encouraged by his less than stellar attempts at baseball and basketball.  Tom began running during his high school junior year and has continued for now over 56 years and over 79,000 miles.  He takes pride in his tenacious mediocrity.  He jokes that he can still run "the 4-minute mile", but it now takes him at least 8 minutes to do it.  His best mile is a rather pedestrian 4:25, but he once had a string of 25 years in which he broke 5:00 for the mile.  His best of 19 marathon attempts is a respectable but not exceptional 2:37, but he finished all 19 attempts in under 3 hours.  "Norman Normal" even in running!

In 2013 June and Tom bought a "vacation home" in Mt Pleasant SC, a suburb of Charleston, to be nearer the sons and their families.  In 2016 they sold their house in Carlisle and now call Mt Pleasant home.  Retirement has encompassed spoiling grandchildren, church commitments, occasional math tutoring, running, gym workouts, biking, and kayaking.  June and Tom continue to enjoy travel, especially to the Caribbean, but also to Hawaii and Europe and around the U.S.

The majority of the abundant joys of Tom's life are related to his family, his teaching, his running, and his coaching.  His life continues to be a "great ride" and he often declares that he'll live his life by the instructions of the staff at Hershey Park: "Please remain seated until the ride comes to a complete stop."

updated 3-16-2020