Curt Cook was a member of the MHS Class of 1961.  He played baseball with many in our class and was well liked and respected by all who knew him from those days.  As a "Friend of the Class of 1962" it was deemed appropriate that this obituary, which appeared in the 21 March 2010 Moline Dispatch be included on our site:

Curtis Roger Cook, 67, died March 18, 2010, at his home in Corvallis, Ore., after a four-year battle with cancer.

A memorial service is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Saturday, March 27, at the First United Methodist Church, Corvallis. Memorial contributions can be made to the Curtis Cook Scholarship for Computer Science through the OSU Foundation; the First United Methodist Church; Benton
Hospice; or the American Cancer Society.

He was born on March 4, 1943, in Moline, the middle son of Albert and Elsie Cook. During his
senior year in high school, he met Joan Stutz in a math class. She invited him to a Sadie Hawkins
dance, and five years later they were married on Aug. 14, 1965, in Moline.

After his 1961 graduation from Moline High School, he graduated in 1965 from Augustana College
in Rock Island, where he majored in mathematics and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. Next he
received his master's and then Ph.D. in computer science at the University of Iowa in Iowa City.
He came with his family to Oregon State University, site unseen, in August 1970 as part of the
Math Department. In 1972, he had the distinction of being the first person to move full time into
the newly formed Computer Science Department. During his 33-year tenure at OSU, he co-
authored two books and had numerous journal publications and conference presentations. He spent one year on sabbatical at Colorado State University in Fort Collins,
Colo., and 4-1/2 months on sabbatical in Copenhagen, Denmark. In 1998, he was given the
College of Engineering Alumni Professor Award in recognition of his positive influence on
students and the university. He retired from OSU in 2003 and became an Emeritus Faculty.

Curt enjoyed sports his whole life. When he was 12, he pitched a perfect game in baseball in the
city championship game and continued with baseball through college. At Augustana he had a
perfect record (7-0) his senior year, where he and a teammate were the first athletes from
Augustana to be named to the First-Team All American baseball team. In 1982, he was inducted
into Augustana's "Tribe of Vikings" Hall of Fame. In high school he was the quarterback on the
football team and received the "M" Men Football Memorial Award for sportsmanship and
leadership. After college he played men's softball and in 1996, started the coed softball team
at the First United Methodist Church. He played in many racquetball and tennis tournaments,
and continued playing some tennis until last fall. He also enjoyed golfing, playing basketball,
and riding his bike, which he rode to work at the university most every day.

Although Curt loved playing sports, his favorite activity was playing with and watching his
grandchildren. Assembling and firing off rockets with his grandsons was a recent favorite.
Curt and Joan enjoyed traveling and visited Chile, Mexico, Canada, Australia, New Zealand,
and several countries in Europe. They also traveled quite a bit in the United States. He was an
active member of the First United Methodist Church and enjoyed reading, gardening, and
spending time with relatives and friends. He was an example to all that knew him: his calm
and even temperament, his patience and genuine consideration for others, his professional
accomplishments, his fitness and dedication.

Curt is survived by his wife, Joan; daughter, Elizabeth Bogner, and her husband, Jason, and
their two sons, Aaron and Sam, Schaumburg, Ill.; daughter, Angela Baker, and her husband,
Jefry, and their two daughters, Madeline and Vega, Lake Oswego, Ore.; brother, Dennis Cook
and his wife, Sandy, Moline; and brother, Gary Cook, East Moline.