Parker Cook, 85, Music Educator At Garfield High School For 43 Years

Over four decades, Parker Cook became an "institution" in Garfield High School's music department, where he made an enduring mark on the music community through several generations of students, including music luminary Quincy Jones.

Mr. Cook died Sunday (July 14) at age 85.

A Seattle native, he was a graduate of Franklin High School and the University of Washington, where he received a B.A. and M.A. in music education. He began his career as a law student but switched to music on the advice of his glee-club director and performed for many years as a singer. Mr. Cook sang bass on tour with Fred Waring and his Pennsylvanians, a legendary choral group.

In 1928, he joined the Garfield High School faculty, where he taught for 43 years before his retirement. As Dr. Forbes Bottomly, then Seattle superintendent of schools, said at Mr. Cook's retirement festivities, "I don't know how many thousands of young people have gone out into the world better equipped because of the care and consideration given them by Parker Cook."

A dynamic teacher who cared passionately about his young musicians, Mr. Cook once contributed $1,000 from his own pocket to send students to a music retreat at Lake Wilderness. In the late 1960s, he raised $800,000 to make Garfield a magnet school for the arts, financing the first and only year of that program - which ended when he reached the mandatory retirement age of 65 the following year.

A citation given Mr. Cook earlier this year by the Garfield Golden Grads called him "a teacher of the old school, a man of gentle modesty and genial good humor, with a strong streak of unselfishness. His loyalty to Garfield matched and sometimes probably surpassed the loyalty of the students."

On his retirement, Mr. Cook said: "If I had it to do over again, I wouldn't change a thing. Garfield has been a wonderful friend."

In 1983, jazz performer and producer Quincy Jones, Mr. Cook's former student, returned to Seattle for concerts at the Paramount Theatre in honor of Jones' 50th birthday. Jones honored Mr. Cook as a "major influence" on his career.

"Parker Cook is a man who had my life in his hands," Jones said then, "and treated it very gently."

Always modest, Mr. Cook responded: "How do you teach a genius? I just stood aside and watched him develop."

Mr. Cook was music director at Prospect Congregational Church for 30 years, and led the College Gleemen for more than 50 years. For 50 years, he gave pre-concert lectures at Seattle Symphony Orchestra and Seattle Opera performances, until his eyesight began to fail in 1982. A 1978 hip injury slowed him down, as did later battles with the heart disease and cancer that finally claimed him.

Cheerful even at the end, he told his daughter this past weekend that he had so many happy memories of his life, his family and his friends.

The walls of the family home are covered with awards and citations from arts groups, schools, arts commissions, the city, county and state, right up to this year's award from Garfield.

Mr. Cook is survived by his wife of 55 years, the former Mildred Horn, a longtime arts activist who coordinated music performances at the University of Washington and was a mainstay of the Meany Hall arts programs. Also surviving are two daughters, both professional musicians: Sandy Labadie and Deede Cook.

No services have yet been scheduled, and the family is arranging a memorial service for next month at a date to be announced later. The service will be full of the music to which Cook dedicated his life.