ROBERT (BOB)
LEIGHTON ELLIOT COOKE
(Med. Hons.), MD, FRCS Eng, FRCSC
On
Friday, February 8, 2013 Robert Cooke died at the age of 98 years.
Bob
was predeceased by his wife of 63 years, Ruth Elizabeth Cooke (Grahame) and his
3 older siblings Enid, Beth (Whiteley) and Terry. He is survived by four
children, Mary Ellen (Toronto), Robert (Toronto, Liesel Putrycz), Andrew
(Winnipeg, Pamela Woodmass) and Sheila Cooke-Witt (Hamburg Germany, Karsten
Witt); as well as 11 grandchildren.
Robert
(Bob) was born in 1914 in Wolseley Saskatchewan during the opening months of
the Great War. He had an idyllic childhood as the 4th child of a
teacher and a country doctor with whom he did winter house calls in a
horse-drawn sleigh, but his adolescence was seared by the poverty of the 1930’s
drought and Great Depression in a small prairie town. Perhaps as a result, he
had a lifelong interest in economics.
With
combined sacrifice, his family sent him to the University of Saskatchewan where
he obtained his BSc. and partial medical training and then on to the University
of Manitoba to complete his MD with a Gold Medal in 1939. In 1941 he joined the
RCNVR and served 4 years as a surgeon on loan to the Royal Navy in England and
on board the hospital ship HMHS Oxfordshire in Sierra Leone and South Africa.
He was discharged in 1945 as Surgeon Lieutenant Commander.
He
completed further postgraduate surgical training in London (FRCS Eng.) in 1947
before returning to Winnipeg (FRCSC 1948) where he married Ruth in 1949. She
had graduated from medical school the same year. After briefly practicing
surgery, Robert together with Ruth and their 1st born, went on to
New York in 1951 for his surgical oncology training at Memorial Sloan
Kettering. Then with a second child they returned in 1954 to Winnipeg where 2
more children were born. Robert joined the Manitoba Clinic in 1955 where he
practiced until his first retirement at age 66 in 1980. During his career he
was on the surgical staff of Health Sciences Centre. He was Associate Professor
in Surgery, University of Manitoba. He served terms as Postgraduate Surgery
Training Director, as Examiner in Surgery for the Royal College of Physicians
and Surgeons of Canada, and as President of the Winnipeg Medical Society. Upon retirement from surgery, Bob continued
with a second career, joining Manitoba Health, first as an Assessor and then as
Chief Medical Consultant for a further 10 years.
He
served on boards and committees of the Manitoba Medical Services (predecessor
to Medicare), the Manitoba Medical Association, CancerCare Manitoba, Canadian
Cancer Society, and as President of the University of Manitoba Alumni.
The
highest praise a surgeon can receive is to be asked to look after the family
members of the nurses and doctors with whom one works and by that measure he
could be very proud of his career. The largest pile of gifts under the
Christmas tree was invariably for Bob, often beautifully hand-crafted by
thankful cancer survivors. He was also an admired surgical teacher and mentor
and was awarded the Distinguished Medical Educator Award by the Manitoba
Provincial Association of Interns and Residents.
On
a storied vacation from London to the Swiss Alps in 1947 he learned to ski.
Childhood summers in the Qu’Appelle Valley lakes taught him to sail. Those
skills were handed down with passion to his children and grandchildren. The
family cabin at West Hawk Lake was a focal point in his life, where he could
relax by puttering, repairing all manner of gear with epoxy and surgical tape
and by sailing the Y-Flyer with trapeze and spinnaker causing happy chaos.
Despite the lack of a phone or road at the cabin, patients still arrived by
boat for emergency stitches and dressings produced from his black bag which was
always at hand.
Though
a kind-hearted man, Bob rarely hesitated when asked, to offer the unvarnished
truth. This led to many famous Bob
anecdotes recounted by his colleagues.
He had a robust sense of humour and he loved to socialize. He and Ruth enjoyed entertaining and their
many years with the Dance Club.
Bob
was far ahead of his time as a pro-feminist, enthusiastically supporting Ruth
in her return to her career as physician and professor in the 1960s. At home
Ruth and Robert were sometimes indulgent parents but no mercy was given when it
came to studying and marks. Dinner table conversation with the children would
be a detailed critique of their home work, medicine, politics, finance or
current affairs. The children benefited
from the scrutiny with one obtaining an MBA and 3 an MD.
In
retirement, Bob curled and relished his current affairs discussion group. He and Ruth travelled extensively and enjoyed
their beloved grandchildren. In the last decade of his life Bob dealt with
increasing macular blindness and deafness with grace and patience. His children are deeply appreciative of the
loyal and dear friends who continued to include Ruth and Bob in their social
lives and who visited them until their very last days. The family would also
like to thank the 4th floor staff at the Poseidon PCH for their kindness. Bob died three weeks after
Ruth’s wake. Overall, his life was one of success and great happiness. No public service will be held. Bob’s ashes
will be placed together with Ruth’s at a fond family location.
Wojcik’s
FUNERAL CHAPEL & CREMATORIUM
2157 PORTAGE AVENUE
204 – 897 - 4665
