Robert Darrow Cook, 90, of Rancho Mirage, Calif. passed away on November 12, 2017 in Palm Desert, Calif. He was born in Brooklyn, N.Y. on May 10, 1927 to Morris L. and Florence E. Cook. He was a partner in I-C Properties Real Estate from 1988 until his death following a lengthy career in the television industry. He attended schools in Union, New Jersey, and Plainfield, New Jersey and moved to Baldwin, Long Island, N.Y. He graduated from Baldwin High School in 1944. Soon after, he enlisted in the U.S. Army at the age of 17 to start Army Specialized Training at City College of N.Y. As soon as he became 18, the Army sent Bob to Infantry Basic Training at Camp Wheeler in Macon, Georgia. In 1945, he left to serve in Italy. Assigned to an ordinance company which he disliked, he answered an army newspaper ad for a radio announcer. To his amazement, he was hired and joined Armed Forces Radio to become Chief Announcer for AES in Livorno, Italy. Following his discharge in 1947, he worked as an NBC Tour Guide in New York until he left to attend Duke University and graduated in 1951. While at Duke he helped start the first campus radio station and was Station Manager of WDBS. While at Duke, he was president of his fraternity chapter of Beta Theta Pi and was honored by membership in Omicron Delta Kappa and Who's Who in American Colleges and Universities. Upon graduation, Bob began his broadcasting career in Akron, Ohio as the morning disc-jockey. After one year, he moved to WKBN in Youngstown, Ohio as a radio and TV anchorman in 1952. Switching to sales, in 1956 he moved to the Detroit office of the Katz Agency until he was transferred to their Los Angeles office in 1962. Bob worked as TV Representative for Katz and later 3 other companies until the mid-80's when, for health reasons, he left and began a new career in the real estate business in industrial and commercial sales. In the late 80s he moved to Palm Springs, Calif. and switched to residential sales with I-C Properties. Bob was fond of music. At an early age, as a boy soprano, he was soloist with choirs of several churches. He appreciated classical, show music and popular tunes throughout his life. Bob was an avid sports fan and an Angels fan for many years. He also enjoyed traveling and visited more than 15 countries and over 55 cities in Italy. He is survived by his niece, Donna Wheeler of Richmond, Virginia; and his business partner of over 43 years, Gene Weaver, of Rancho Mirage, Calif. A service will be held at 3:00 pm, on Sunday, November 19, 2017 at Forest Lawn, Cathedral City, Ca.
