I became an "Able Bodied Seaman" with an Inland License in 1945 and went to sea first with the Army Transport Service on a trip to Alaska. Right after high school, shipped on the Liberty Ship, Eric Hauser, to the Pacific. Registered for the draft in Honolulu shortly after my 18th birthday. We were anchored in Okinawa on VJ day. After that trip I signed on to the Liberty Ship, Vitus Bering, which carried a load of Grain from Portland, Oregon through the Panama Canal to Marseilles, France and then returned to Philadelphia, PA. We were in the middle of the Atlantic on Christmas of 1945 and endured a major Atlantic storm. After that trip I took some time off and got married. Staying close to home alerted the draft board, so enlisted in the Army as was ultimately assigned to the Dental Service and served aboard the Hospital Ship Comfort as assistant to the Dentist.

I took an Honorable Discharge from the Army in 1948 to enter college at the University of California at Berkeley. At the same time started a restaurant with my brother-in-law, Chuck Gnoose, to subsidize the GI bill and it's $21/month. Graduated to a bigger restaurant and left college after 3 years. Stayed in the restaurant business with the "Chat & Chew Restaurant", a truck stop, at Crockett, California until the highway bypassed it in 1960. There was a little setback in 1955 when we were in an automobile accident on the Carquinez Bridge on the way home from work.  We were hit by a carload of drunk men.|
We both survived, but is was a long recovery with some serious losses.

        
I sold the equipment and the liquor license from the restaurant, abandoned the building and became a salesman, selling to restaurants, schools, hospitals etc for John Sexton & Co and was first assigned to Spokane, Washington, then sent to Denver Colorado and in 1965 was promoted to District Sales Manager for the State of Hawaii where my family and I stayed until 1970.

As Sales Manager I traveled the States of Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana with the salesmen assigned to those territories. It was a very interesting job and we did well. Too well, perhaps, because the company wanted to transfer me to Cincinnati, Ohio in 1972 to take over a top region in the country. They were also going to drop the Northwest Region and combine it with another region out of San Francisco, so I had no choice. I went out and took a look at the area but couldn't bring myself to leave the Northwest (and my boat) again. This was a difficult choice and left me in Tacoma when jobs were very scarce. There was a billboard saying "The last one to leave Seattle, turn out the lights" because Boeing had laid off so many people at that time. Fortunately (in some ways) I was single by then and only had myself to support. Son Ken and daughter Renee were both married and out of state.

It was an interesting time the next few years selling Electrolux Vacuum Cleaners, Wigs, falling for pyramid schemes to "make money", selling food on the road for Allen Foods and whatever else I could think of. I did get married again in 1974 and in 1975 got a job as Business Manager for Northwest Trek, a wildlife park being built by the Metropolitan Park District of Tacoma. The Park was located in Eatonville. We eventually sold the house on Day Island and purchased an unfinished home on Ohop Lake near Eatonville. I lived in that house from early 1975 until December 31, 2008.  I sold the lake house to my grandson Donny and moved to Tacoma.

The job at Northwest Trek was very interesting and full of political intrigue. The job paid $10,000 a year! That was just over 1/3rd of what I was making with Sexton 5 years before!! For me, the job ended in 1978.

I had worked some with a friend that I had purchased the Mulkey from back in 1972 and got a real estate license. Didn't do much with it in 1972, but once again out of work in 1978 it was my ticket to the future. I went to work for a firm that hired a lot of agents. Sherwood and Roberts had an big office in Puyallup and the Broker was from Eatonville. Selling a Raspberry/Rhubarb farm in Puyallup and a couple of homes got me back on my feet. Single again. In Real Estate I went from the Puyallup branch to the new Spanaway Branch, and then worked in a 'Flat Fee' office for my friend John P. Nagle. Finally opened a flat fee office in Tacoma in 1980 because by then I had a Broker's License of my own. The Tacoma office was "Don Cook Realty, Inc" and the corporation had 11 stockholders. The principal stockholder with 40% was my brother Ken Cook who then owned "Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream" in Oakland, Ca. and all the other stockholders were friends of his in California. I borrowed and worked for my 20% share of the stock.

In 1981 or so, interest rates for buying real estate got as high as 20%!! It took a lot of creative financing to get property moved and even then, very little was moving. Closed the office in 1983 and I went back to work for John P Nagle Real Estate. We had lost in excess of $100,000 and had just over $1000 in the bank at the close of business, so we kept the corporation active as a corporation but no business.

It was in 1985 that a good friend of mine from the Eatonville Lions Club (I had been a member since 1975) offered me his Real Estate business, Eatonville Realty with terms I could hardly refuse. I purchased as "Don Cook Realty, Inc" and used the $1000 to pay for his furniture and equipment. The terms were 20% of all income which was to pay for rent on his building and purchase the business. There were no agents and no listings, but a great location. By 1986 it was costing more than I wanted to pay the 20%, so made an agreement to purchase the building for $100,000 and the business would be paid for. $1,000 per month until paid off at 8% interest. We paid $20,000 down. With a lump sum payment, the building was paid off in 1994.

It is now 2010 and I have been retired since 1998!  I maintained an office in Graham, WA. on property I owned with two other friends until July of 2005 when we sold the property.  I used the office for a place to go and work/play on my computer.  Kept the Broker Council books, published the Eatonville Lions Club web site and monthly news letter, kept the books for the American Legion in Eatonville, managed the property we owned in Graham, and watched out for our own real estate holdings.  The 'office' was a place to go and kept me off the streets.  Beginning in 2005 until now all of the real estate we owned or had a share in has been sold.  Melly Rodriguez who purchased my real estate business purchased the real estate as well  in 2005.  This sale makes my retirement much healthier.  All properties sold were sold with me, or me and my partners (in Graham) carrying the paper ourselves so we have long term income.  The only real estate I still own is a small house in Spanaway where Carol's son lives.

I lived on Ohop Lake in Eatonville from July of 1975 until Dec. 31, 2008!  The longest I have ever lived anyplace times 3.  I now live in a rented house in Tacoma and  sold the lake house to Grandson Donny.   In the mean time I enjoy my kids, grandkids, great grandkids and my boat.  Sadly, Carol lives in a facility for Alzheimer's folks in Puyallup.  She has been there since Dec. 12, 2008.

Son, Ken, lives relatively close (75 miles away) on Hood Canal at Hoodsport, WA with his wife Judene.  He has two sons. Number 1 son Kenny has  3 sons of his own and currently lives in Maple Valley, WA.  He works for www.classmates.com.  Ken's #2 son (Don) lives at the lake house in Eatonville, WA and has one daughter, Sabrina.  Ken even has a bigger and newer boat than his Dad! (see above)

Daughter, Renny, lives in Shirley, MA and she has two sons.  Her #1 son is Frank Gerweck also lives in MA. and so far has no children.  Her #2 son, Ken (what else) lives in Wakefield, MA with his wife Anu and their daughter Uma-Lou and son Rudy.  Renny tries to get out here at least once a year and I try to get back there once a year plus with email and no extra charge cell phone calls we keep in close contact.

Don Cook