CASTINE – Ronald Wilbur Cooke, who was born in 1919, in Newport, R.I., to Ronald and Renee Cooke, passed away Aug. 16, 2009. He spent much of his life in Windsor, Conn., attending Loomis Chaffee School, where he played three varsity sports. He played varsity baseball at Yale, graduating in 1940 with a Bachelor of Science degree and Yale Medical School in 1943. He married Frances Campbell Ford in 1944 after she graduated from Yale Nursing School. After a three-year residency in pediatrics at Strong Memorial Hospice, Rochester, N.Y., and at Yale, he entered the Army and was first assigned to Walter Reed Hospital and then a hospital ship. After the war he returned to Yale surgical program finishing at Boston Children’s Hospital. He returned to Hartford, Conn., where he practiced pediatric surgery for 30 years at Hartford Hospital Newington Children’s Hospital and U-Conn University Hospital, Farmington, Conn. He was an associate clinical professor of surgery at Connecticut University Medical School and Dartmouth Medical School. He was a Fellow of the American College of Surgery, Hartford Medical Society and New England Surgical Society. He was past president of New England Pediatric Surgical Society. After his retirement, the Ronald Cooke yearly pediatric surgical lectureship was established at Hartford Hospital. He was an avid skier, golfer and fly fisherman. He and Fran had five children: Heidi, Bari, Tracy, Ben and Rufus. A memorial service will be held 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 9, at Trinity Episcopal Church, Castine. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to your local hospice.
RONALD W. COOKE, M.D.
