James (Jim) Malcolm Cook, age 73, of Shawnee, KS, passed away February 5, 2019, at the Shawnee PARC nursing home in Overland Park, KS.
Jim was born January 5, 1946, in Topeka, KS, the son of Delmer Edwin and Ruby Pearle (Hutchins) Cook. On November 23, 1967, he married Eva Cynthia Lord of Richardson, TX. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering from Kansas University in Lawrence, KS, graduating in 1968. He applied his degree to research of ground penetrating radar systems at Texas Instruments in Dallas, TX, from 1968 through 1972. He later worked at power utility companies in Colorado and Missouri before being hired as a Staff Consulting Engineer at Crown Center Redevelopment, a subsidiary of Hallmark Cards, Inc., in 1978. In this position, he provided assessments on lighting and power requirements in Hallmark’s factories and stores before retiring in 2013.
Jim was an active member of the Institute for Electronics and Electrical Engineers (IEEE) and the Antique Wireless Association (AWA); he wrote many articles regarding early broadcasting and radio equipment for the AWA’s self-titled publication. In his spare time, Jim liked to collect and trade early 20th-century radios, radio parts including vacuum tubes and tube testers, and broadcasting magazines. One of his fondest memories was fixing a pre-World War II Silvertone cabinet radio for his grandfather-in-law.
Jim is survived by his wife, Eva; sister Kate Lawrence of Denver, CO; children Susan Elaine Cook of Shawnee, KS, Walter James Cook of Mission, KS, and Theron Robert Cook of Eugene, OR; grandchildren Nora Valentine Cook of Mission, KS, and Orion Alexander Cook of Eugene, OR; and many other loving relatives and friends.
Memorial services will be held Wednesday, February 13, at Porter Funeral Home in Lenexa, KS. An informal visitation and remembrance begin at 5:30 p.m. to be followed by a short service at 6:30 p.m. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the American Diabetes Association; the Linda Hall Library on the UMKC campus in Kansas City, MO; or your local NPR or PBS station.