She was a beloved wife and mother, teacher, volunteer and a pioneer Alaskan with abundant compassion.
Cora Jackinsky Cook passed away peacefully Jan. 24, 2017, with family and friends at her bedside. She was 94 years young.
Cora was born Sept. 17, 1922, in the coastal village of Ninilchik on the Kenai Peninsula. Cora's father was an immigrant from Russia and her mother was an Aleut descendant. Cora's mother died young, leaving Cora in the good care of her father and her older siblings. Fishing was the family mainstay.
During the mid- and latter-1930s, Cora and her sister attended and graduated from Snohomish High School in Washington, where they lived with family friends. In the early 1940s Cora joined her older sister in Fairbanks and enrolled as a freshman at the University of Alaska.
She lived on campus with roommates who would become her lifelong friends. It was at UA where Cora met a dashing Army ROTC cadet named Donald Cook. The story goes that it was a courtship that included plenty of study hall tutoring in math and sciences. Cora was an education major, and Donald was a mining engineering student from Oregon. They became a steady couple on campus.
The intervening war years separated Cora and Don. He became a commissioned officer and was deployed to the front lines of France in June 1944. Cora moved to Homer and began teaching school.
After a devastating combat injury, Don convalesced in England and later in Walla Walla, Washington. Their love story was not overcome by a 12-month separation, and on Oct. 28, 1944, they were married in Portland, Oregon.
Their desire to return to Fairbanks was strong. Dr. Ernest Patty, who employed Don during his college days, gave Don and Cora a loan for their first home. The family started to grow. During the next 10 years, Don worked as an engineer while Cora kept busy raising four boys.
In the late 1950s, Cora and Don moved to Pennsylvania so that Don could pursue both a master's and a Ph.D. in mineral engineering.
After receiving his degrees, they returned to Fairbanks where Don launched a 35-year career as a full professor and later as a dean at the University of Alaska. They had come full circle.
Cora stayed active with the University Women's Association and traveled overseas with Don when he took teaching sabbaticals. They spent most of a year in Taiwan. Back in Alaska, Cora welcomed Don's foreign grad students at UAF.
Cora's volunteerism and actions in the Fairbanks community were exemplary. She helped found the College Women's Club. She took on duties at the Tanana Valley Fair and helped establish the popular all-Alaska dinner at the old quonset hut. As a member of the Fairbanks Garden Club, she helped plant flowers at the airport and around town every spring.
Cora was a judicious bridge player and an astute observer of local politics. While staying proactive in Don's academic and professional career, she stayed involved with women who supported the Alaska mining industry.
She was also a traveler, having made numerous cruises to Mexico, the Panama Canal and the Mediterranean. Cora and Don's favorite beach was at Waimanalo, Hawaii, where they would walk the 3-mile strip. And Cora never missed a yearly drive to Ninilchik to reunite with family and childhood friends.
Cora stayed active with the University Presbyterian Church where she developed many lasting friendships. In 2004, Cora and Don were honored to become Fairbanks Pioneer Queen and King Regents. Cora spent many years working and coordinating at the Pioneer Museum. Curious about life, spirituality and nutrition, Cora maintained a balanced approach to almost everything. She was a friend to many. To her sons, she was Mom. She applied the Band-aids, made the brown bag lunches, sewed the torn parkas and reminded her sons that the newspapers had to be delivered to their customers, even at 50 below.
Cora was predeceased by Don, her husband of 65 years; her two eldest sons, Wayne and Kenneth; her father, Walter Jackinsky; and siblings, Edward, Walter Jr., and Jackie. Cora is survived by sons Donald Bryce and Galen Gerald, as well as a multitude of grand- and great-grandkids.
In her last years, Cora was a resident of the Fairbanks Pioneers' Home. The staff at the Pioneers' Home is to be commended for the special attention and care given to Cora during some difficult circumstances. They afforded Cora great dignity to the end. Cora's special friends, Susie Swaim, Sonja Younker and Betty Behr, stayed near Cora's bedside during her final days.
The Cook brothers will hold a memorial service and special gathering of her friends at the Pioneers' Home later this spring, Cora's favorite time of year. There will be sunflowers. Published in Daily News-Miner on Feb. 7, 2017.
Cora Jackinsky Cook passed away peacefully Jan. 24, 2017, with family and friends at her bedside. She was 94 years young.
Cora was born Sept. 17, 1922, in the coastal village of Ninilchik on the Kenai Peninsula. Cora's father was an immigrant from Russia and her mother was an Aleut descendant. Cora's mother died young, leaving Cora in the good care of her father and her older siblings. Fishing was the family mainstay.
During the mid- and latter-1930s, Cora and her sister attended and graduated from Snohomish High School in Washington, where they lived with family friends. In the early 1940s Cora joined her older sister in Fairbanks and enrolled as a freshman at the University of Alaska.
She lived on campus with roommates who would become her lifelong friends. It was at UA where Cora met a dashing Army ROTC cadet named Donald Cook. The story goes that it was a courtship that included plenty of study hall tutoring in math and sciences. Cora was an education major, and Donald was a mining engineering student from Oregon. They became a steady couple on campus.
The intervening war years separated Cora and Don. He became a commissioned officer and was deployed to the front lines of France in June 1944. Cora moved to Homer and began teaching school.
After a devastating combat injury, Don convalesced in England and later in Walla Walla, Washington. Their love story was not overcome by a 12-month separation, and on Oct. 28, 1944, they were married in Portland, Oregon.
Their desire to return to Fairbanks was strong. Dr. Ernest Patty, who employed Don during his college days, gave Don and Cora a loan for their first home. The family started to grow. During the next 10 years, Don worked as an engineer while Cora kept busy raising four boys.
In the late 1950s, Cora and Don moved to Pennsylvania so that Don could pursue both a master's and a Ph.D. in mineral engineering.
After receiving his degrees, they returned to Fairbanks where Don launched a 35-year career as a full professor and later as a dean at the University of Alaska. They had come full circle.
Cora stayed active with the University Women's Association and traveled overseas with Don when he took teaching sabbaticals. They spent most of a year in Taiwan. Back in Alaska, Cora welcomed Don's foreign grad students at UAF.
Cora's volunteerism and actions in the Fairbanks community were exemplary. She helped found the College Women's Club. She took on duties at the Tanana Valley Fair and helped establish the popular all-Alaska dinner at the old quonset hut. As a member of the Fairbanks Garden Club, she helped plant flowers at the airport and around town every spring.
Cora was a judicious bridge player and an astute observer of local politics. While staying proactive in Don's academic and professional career, she stayed involved with women who supported the Alaska mining industry.
She was also a traveler, having made numerous cruises to Mexico, the Panama Canal and the Mediterranean. Cora and Don's favorite beach was at Waimanalo, Hawaii, where they would walk the 3-mile strip. And Cora never missed a yearly drive to Ninilchik to reunite with family and childhood friends.
Cora stayed active with the University Presbyterian Church where she developed many lasting friendships. In 2004, Cora and Don were honored to become Fairbanks Pioneer Queen and King Regents. Cora spent many years working and coordinating at the Pioneer Museum. Curious about life, spirituality and nutrition, Cora maintained a balanced approach to almost everything. She was a friend to many. To her sons, she was Mom. She applied the Band-aids, made the brown bag lunches, sewed the torn parkas and reminded her sons that the newspapers had to be delivered to their customers, even at 50 below.
Cora was predeceased by Don, her husband of 65 years; her two eldest sons, Wayne and Kenneth; her father, Walter Jackinsky; and siblings, Edward, Walter Jr., and Jackie. Cora is survived by sons Donald Bryce and Galen Gerald, as well as a multitude of grand- and great-grandkids.
In her last years, Cora was a resident of the Fairbanks Pioneers' Home. The staff at the Pioneers' Home is to be commended for the special attention and care given to Cora during some difficult circumstances. They afforded Cora great dignity to the end. Cora's special friends, Susie Swaim, Sonja Younker and Betty Behr, stayed near Cora's bedside during her final days.
The Cook brothers will hold a memorial service and special gathering of her friends at the Pioneers' Home later this spring, Cora's favorite time of year. There will be sunflowers. Published in Daily News-Miner on Feb. 7, 2017.
She was a beloved wife and mother, teacher, volunteer and a pioneer Alaskan with abundant compassion.
Cora Jackinsky Cook passed away peacefully Jan. 24, 2017, with family and friends at her bedside. She was 94 years young.
Cora was born Sept. 17, 1922, in the coastal village of Ninilchik on the Kenai Peninsula. Cora's father was an immigrant from Russia and her mother was an Aleut descendant. Cora's mother died young, leaving Cora in the good care of her father and her older siblings. Fishing was the family mainstay.
During the mid- and latter-1930s, Cora and her sister attended and graduated from Snohomish High School in Washington, where they lived with family friends. In the early 1940s Cora joined her older sister in Fairbanks and enrolled as a freshman at the University of Alaska.
She lived on campus with roommates who would become her lifelong friends. It was at UA where Cora met a dashing Army ROTC cadet named Donald Cook. The story goes that it was a courtship that included plenty of study hall tutoring in math and sciences. Cora was an education major, and Donald was a mining engineering student from Oregon. They became a steady couple on campus.
The intervening war years separated Cora and Don. He became a commissioned officer and was deployed to the front lines of France in June 1944. Cora moved to Homer and began teaching school.
After a devastating combat injury, Don convalesced in England and later in Walla Walla, Washington. Their love story was not overcome by a 12-month separation, and on Oct. 28, 1944, they were married in Portland, Oregon.
Their desire to return to Fairbanks was strong. Dr. Ernest Patty, who employed Don during his college days, gave Don and Cora a loan for their first home. The family started to grow. During the next 10 years, Don worked as an engineer while Cora kept busy raising four boys.
In the late 1950s, Cora and Don moved to Pennsylvania so that Don could pursue both a master's and a Ph.D. in mineral engineering.
After receiving his degrees, they returned to Fairbanks where Don launched a 35-year career as a full professor and later as a dean at the University of Alaska. They had come full circle.
Cora stayed active with the University Women's Association and traveled overseas with Don when he took teaching sabbaticals. They spent most of a year in Taiwan. Back in Alaska, Cora welcomed Don's foreign grad students at UAF.
Cora's volunteerism and actions in the Fairbanks community were exemplary. She helped found the College Women's Club. She took on duties at the Tanana Valley Fair and helped establish the popular all-Alaska dinner at the old quonset hut. As a member of the Fairbanks Garden Club, she helped plant flowers at the airport and around town every spring.
Cora was a judicious bridge player and an astute observer of local politics. While staying proactive in Don's academic and professional career, she stayed involved with women who supported the Alaska mining industry.
She was also a traveler, having made numerous cruises to Mexico, the Panama Canal and the Mediterranean. Cora and Don's favorite beach was at Waimanalo, Hawaii, where they would walk the 3-mile strip. And Cora never missed a yearly drive to Ninilchik to reunite with family and childhood friends.
Cora stayed active with the University Presbyterian Church where she developed many lasting friendships. In 2004, Cora and Don were honored to become Fairbanks Pioneer Queen and King Regents. Cora spent many years working and coordinating at the Pioneer Museum. Curious about life, spirituality and nutrition, Cora maintained a balanced approach to almost everything. She was a friend to many. To her sons, she was Mom. She applied the Band-aids, made the brown bag lunches, sewed the torn parkas and reminded her sons that the newspapers had to be delivered to their customers, even at 50 below.
Cora was predeceased by Don, her husband of 65 years; her two eldest sons, Wayne and Kenneth; her father, Walter Jackinsky; and siblings, Edward, Walter Jr., and Jackie. Cora is survived by sons Donald Bryce and Galen Gerald, as well as a multitude of grand- and great-grandkids.
In her last years, Cora was a resident of the Fairbanks Pioneers' Home. The staff at the Pioneers' Home is to be commended for the special attention and care given to Cora during some difficult circumstances. They afforded Cora great dignity to the end. Cora's special friends, Susie Swaim, Sonja Younker and Betty Behr, stayed near Cora's bedside during her final days.
The Cook brothers will hold a memorial service and special gathering of her friends at the Pioneers' Home later this spring, Cora's favorite time of year. There will be sunflowers. Published in Daily News-Miner on Feb. 7, 2017.
Cora Jackinsky Cook passed away peacefully Jan. 24, 2017, with family and friends at her bedside. She was 94 years young.
Cora was born Sept. 17, 1922, in the coastal village of Ninilchik on the Kenai Peninsula. Cora's father was an immigrant from Russia and her mother was an Aleut descendant. Cora's mother died young, leaving Cora in the good care of her father and her older siblings. Fishing was the family mainstay.
During the mid- and latter-1930s, Cora and her sister attended and graduated from Snohomish High School in Washington, where they lived with family friends. In the early 1940s Cora joined her older sister in Fairbanks and enrolled as a freshman at the University of Alaska.
She lived on campus with roommates who would become her lifelong friends. It was at UA where Cora met a dashing Army ROTC cadet named Donald Cook. The story goes that it was a courtship that included plenty of study hall tutoring in math and sciences. Cora was an education major, and Donald was a mining engineering student from Oregon. They became a steady couple on campus.
The intervening war years separated Cora and Don. He became a commissioned officer and was deployed to the front lines of France in June 1944. Cora moved to Homer and began teaching school.
After a devastating combat injury, Don convalesced in England and later in Walla Walla, Washington. Their love story was not overcome by a 12-month separation, and on Oct. 28, 1944, they were married in Portland, Oregon.
Their desire to return to Fairbanks was strong. Dr. Ernest Patty, who employed Don during his college days, gave Don and Cora a loan for their first home. The family started to grow. During the next 10 years, Don worked as an engineer while Cora kept busy raising four boys.
In the late 1950s, Cora and Don moved to Pennsylvania so that Don could pursue both a master's and a Ph.D. in mineral engineering.
After receiving his degrees, they returned to Fairbanks where Don launched a 35-year career as a full professor and later as a dean at the University of Alaska. They had come full circle.
Cora stayed active with the University Women's Association and traveled overseas with Don when he took teaching sabbaticals. They spent most of a year in Taiwan. Back in Alaska, Cora welcomed Don's foreign grad students at UAF.
Cora's volunteerism and actions in the Fairbanks community were exemplary. She helped found the College Women's Club. She took on duties at the Tanana Valley Fair and helped establish the popular all-Alaska dinner at the old quonset hut. As a member of the Fairbanks Garden Club, she helped plant flowers at the airport and around town every spring.
Cora was a judicious bridge player and an astute observer of local politics. While staying proactive in Don's academic and professional career, she stayed involved with women who supported the Alaska mining industry.
She was also a traveler, having made numerous cruises to Mexico, the Panama Canal and the Mediterranean. Cora and Don's favorite beach was at Waimanalo, Hawaii, where they would walk the 3-mile strip. And Cora never missed a yearly drive to Ninilchik to reunite with family and childhood friends.
Cora stayed active with the University Presbyterian Church where she developed many lasting friendships. In 2004, Cora and Don were honored to become Fairbanks Pioneer Queen and King Regents. Cora spent many years working and coordinating at the Pioneer Museum. Curious about life, spirituality and nutrition, Cora maintained a balanced approach to almost everything. She was a friend to many. To her sons, she was Mom. She applied the Band-aids, made the brown bag lunches, sewed the torn parkas and reminded her sons that the newspapers had to be delivered to their customers, even at 50 below.
Cora was predeceased by Don, her husband of 65 years; her two eldest sons, Wayne and Kenneth; her father, Walter Jackinsky; and siblings, Edward, Walter Jr., and Jackie. Cora is survived by sons Donald Bryce and Galen Gerald, as well as a multitude of grand- and great-grandkids.
In her last years, Cora was a resident of the Fairbanks Pioneers' Home. The staff at the Pioneers' Home is to be commended for the special attention and care given to Cora during some difficult circumstances. They afforded Cora great dignity to the end. Cora's special friends, Susie Swaim, Sonja Younker and Betty Behr, stayed near Cora's bedside during her final days.
The Cook brothers will hold a memorial service and special gathering of her friends at the Pioneers' Home later this spring, Cora's favorite time of year. There will be sunflowers. Published in Daily News-Miner on Feb. 7, 2017.
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