78R8211 PCM-D
By: Cook of Navarro H.R. No. 404
R E S O L U T I O N
WHEREAS, March 7, 2003, represents a significant milestone in
the marriage of Leland and Sue Cook of Corsicana, for on that day
the couple are celebrating 50 years of living happily ever after;
and
WHEREAS, Childhood sweethearts, Mr. and Mrs. Cook gained an
invaluable tolerance for members of the opposite sex from a young
age that made them well-suited for the role of lifelong partners;
Mrs. Cook, a native of Mundy, was raised with two brothers, Dee and
Bill, while Mr. Cook grew up in Abilene as the seriously outnumbered
brother of three sisters, Mildred Francis, Lora Lee, and Regina
May; and
WHEREAS, Rendered a Shirley Temple look-alike by her mother
as a child, Mrs. Cook resembles the bubbly star in terms of her
outgoing personality as well, and she showed her school spirit as a
cheerleader in junior high school and as a tennis and volleyball
player in high school before graduating in 1952; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Cook was also a student-athlete who played on
his high school football team and held the singular distinction of
being the biggest player on his team and the only player in his
division to weigh more than 200 pounds; the winner of the 1952
Golden Glove championship of high school boxing, this live wire
could often be found behind the wheel of his car when he wasn't
pursuing a sport or his girl, and his myriad adventures included
crossing the lake in his 1941 Chevy coupe during a winter freeze and
rolling his 1951 Studebaker Champion convertible and going airborne
before awakening to the sounds of the car radio playing a tune
welcoming him to heaven; and
WHEREAS, After high school, Mrs. Cook attended Texas Tech
University and Mr. Cook went to Texas A&M University, where he
majored in agricultural economics, played football, and joined the
Corps of Cadets; though she was at Texas Tech for only a year, Mrs.
Cook joined Kappa Kappa Gamma and made a lasting impression on her
friends at the university, especially those for whom she kept time;
and
WHEREAS, Fulfilling a threat he made at the tender age of 16,
Mr. Cook married the love of his life on March 7, 1953, in Hearne;
returning to school to finish out the semester, the Cooks later
honeymooned in a luxurious pup tent in Colorado before making their
first home together in married student housing at Texas A&M; and
WHEREAS, Side by side, the devoted young couple were ready to
take on any challenges and opportunities that came their way;
coached by her spouse, Mrs. Cook won a women's softball
championship as one of the Hamby Angels in the 1960s, and she went
on to navigate previously uncharted waters for a woman as a
draftsman and supervisor for West Texas Utilities and to design
Corsicana's Petroleum Park as a commercial artist in the 1970s; and
WHEREAS, Though possibly destined for a career in the
spotlight after his successful acting debut at the age of 10, Mr.
Cook chose instead to forge a different path, moving his family in
1967 from Abilene to Corsicana in a 1964 Corvair van while pulling a
1947 Plymouth, in what proved to be a great career move; initially
employed by a newspaper, he became a vending machine entrepreneur
in 1974, cofounded Tradewest, the first Texas company to create
entertainment software for Nintendo in 1985, and has been raising
champion Thoroughbred racehorses at the family's Richland Ranch now
for the past decade; and
WHEREAS, The proud parents of their own basketball team
following the births of sons Byron, Rob, Ken, Lance, and Brad, the
Cooks survived the perils of parenting five boys relatively
unscathed and today can exact their payback by regaling their
daughters-in-law and 13 grandchildren with tales of their boys'
most memorable mishaps; Mr. Cook's winning ways with young people
also led him to contribute a remarkable 25 years to his community as
a Little League baseball coach; and
WHEREAS, Embraceable and irreplaceable, Leland and Sue Cook
have only grown in love and affection for one another with each
passing year, and the State of Texas may have to consider taking
action against them, for they have been pivotal in guiding their
son, the Honorable Byron Cook, to the position he holds today, and
they have inspired all of their loved ones with their shining
example of lives well lived; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 78th Texas
Legislature hereby congratulate Leland and Sue Cook on the joyous
occasion of their 50th wedding anniversary and extend to them
sincere best wishes for continued happiness; and, be it further
RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be
prepared for Mr. and Mrs. Cook as an expression of high regard by
the Texas House of Representatives.