Wesley Edwin Cooke

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Bio

After graduating from high school and attending Seton Hall University for 2 years, Wesley E. Cooke began his career at Prudential Insurance Company. Like many Americans following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Wesley felt that it was his duty to serve and protect his country and enlisted in the army at Fort Dix, New Jersey.  After completing officer candidate school and receiving his commission, he was sent to the Pacific theater with the 155th Infantry Division.  It was during his time in the Pacific theater that he earned a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star. Before transitioning into the reserves, he was promoted to First Lieutenant in January of 1945.

Wesley remained in the reserves until 1950, when he was activated for deployment to Korea.  Wesley’s perspective on the war was different from that of the men assigned to his unit.  He would often reflect to his family that, as an older officer in his early 30s, he was troubled by the fact that all the men he led into battle were in their late teens. He reflected on how his primary goal was to ensure that these men could return home safely and begin their lives, build families, and pursue careers.  During this period of active duty, he received the Foreign Service Medal and the UN Service Medal.

Wes returned from Korea to his family, Dorothy, and his two sons, and continued to serve in the reserves. Within a few years after his return, his wife’s health drastically declined, and he was transferred from the Prudential Insurance Office in Newark, New Jersey, to the Boston office. With the increased responsibilities at work and home,  he chose to leave the reserves and focus more on his civilian life.   A few years after his wife’s passing, he was fortunate to meet the second love of his life and fellow widow, Maude, in 1974.  Wes worked for 40 years at Prudential and retired in 1977 as the manager of the field office planning unit on the 17th floor of the Prudential Tower in Boston, MA.

Wesley Cooke passed away in 2009 at the age of 90, and his legacy is one of devotion to his family, his faith, and service to his nation.