KEEP THE MUSIC GOING

In every community, in every generation, there always are a few folks who stand out for their selfless contributions to the “other,” those who are in need, whether from illness, poverty, or loneliness.

Recently, two such people were honored with the dedication of a baby grand player piano at the new Charles and Virginia Hickman Hospital. Both were devoted to family and community and as physicians, both spent their lives caring for others. Both also loved music.

Dr. Catherine “Cathy” Cook, and her father, Dr. Carlton L. Cook, were lauded for their “years of service in our hospitals and throughout our community,” according to Katie Frye, executive director for the ProMedica Regional FoundationMichigan.

“This piano will serve as a reminder of the commitment the two doctors had to healthcare in Lenawee as well as their love for music and the arts,” Frye said at the April 3 dedication of the piano.

Dr. Cathy Cook, an anesthesiologist for 30 years, died in November 2013 at the age of 60, while her father, who established his family medical practice in Tecumseh in 1953, died in February 2019. He was 92.

April Cook Gunder, Cathy’s sister and one of Carlton Cook’s daughters, said that “you really can’t separate Mom and Dad” when talking about their contributions to the Tecumseh community.

“They really gave everything they had for this town,” Gunder said. “Cathy did, too.”

The senior Dr. Cook delivered thousands of babies, stitched up hundreds of children and adults who came rushing to his downtown Tecumseh or East Pottawatamie Street offices, towels and washcloths wrapped around bleeding wounds; and sat with thousands of patients, listening to their ailments and offering advice or a sympathetic ear.

“Dad was a kind person, and a good listener,” Gunder said. “People felt they could talk to him.”

He loved music, especially singing with his barbershop quartet and over the years, frequently Dr. Carlton Cook tread the boards with the Tecumseh Players and at the Croswell Opera House, winning roles in musical productions. He also played the piano, taking lessons almost right up to his death, according to Gunder. “He really loved the piano and took lessons,” she said. “He always was trying to improve himself.”

As a member of the Kiwanis Club of Tecumseh, he was “Santa” to special needs children, treating them with kindness and care. He was in a book club, had a pilot’s license, and with his wife and family was active in the Tecumseh Presbyterian Church. “He was very involved in church,” Gunder said. “He sang in the choir, he was an elder.”

Dr. Carlton Cook and his wife, Lynn, enjoyed many adventures together and loved to travel, according to Margaret Cook Miller, another of the Dr. Cathy CookCook’s daughters. They raised their children to be confident and kind. They also modeled leadership for their children. In addition to church, the Tecumseh Players, the Croswell Opera House, and Kiwanis, the senior Dr. Cook was on the Tecumseh City Council, and the boards of Hospice of

Keep the

By Renee Lapham Collins

going

Lenawee and Herrick Hospital.“Both of my parents really believed in their children,” Miller said. “They knew we could do whatever we wanted.”

Added Gunder, “Mom had a heart for helping people. She would say that if you don’t like someone, then you don’t know them very well.”

Lynn Bales was studying to be a teacher at Michigan State University when her future husband was in medical school at the University of Michigan. They married August 13, 1950 and moved to Tecumseh in 1953. In addition to Catherine, April, and Margaret, they were also parents to Patricia, William, and Jennifer.

Miller said she recently found letters her mother had written to her father from 1948 to 1950. “They wrote to each other each day,” she said. “They chose Tecumseh because Dad had done an internship with a doctor here.” Mrs. Cook died in 2012.

The sisters recall Cathy as being “dedicated to caring for her patients.”

“She had a big heart,” Gunder said. “She was a woman and a doctor, and she had tenacity. Once she set her mind on something, she did it.”

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The junior Dr. Cook was a single mother for many years and was completely devoted to her daughter, Jessica, and son John Nathan, as well as her two grandchildren. “She loved them so much,” Gunder said.

Both Gunder and Miller are still in touch with some of the many au pairs their sister hired to help care for her children. “She would have au pairs from other countries, they’d stay for a year, and she’d take them into her world,” said Gunder. “They stayed in touch with her. They adored her.”

The Cook physicians shared a love for horses as well as music and Dr. Carlton Cook spent a lot of time at his daughter’s Macon farm, riding on his own or with his daughter.

Gunder said her late sister never let anything stop her and she took care of everyone. “She was very supportive of LGBTQ and would find the current situation with Roe v. Wade unacceptable,” Gunder said. “She was a model daughter for Dad. Dad went there every day. They were close, tight.” She also loved theater, Miller said.

“Cathy built relationships with physicians and nurses, she was kind, smart, and generous, and strong mentally,” said Miller. “She was determined. She knew what she wanted, and she did it. She was the toughest of the sisters.” n

The baby grand piano sits in the lobby of the ProMedica's Hickman Hospital for all to enjoy.

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