Cook, George & Margaret

Judge George R. Cook spent some of his childhood years in Lowell. He lived at 605 East Main Street and attended Lowell schools. He laid foundations and built relationships. Though his career took him to Grand Rapids, he kept a law office in Lowell throughout most of his career.

The Cook family moved to Lowell in 1925. At some point after the 1930 census the family moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. After living in Milwaukee, the family moved to Maryland. In 1942 George graduated from the University of Maryland and served in the U.S. Army in the South Pacific then he went on to receive his law degree from the University of Michigan in 1948.

In 1948 George married Margaret Farmer, who had graduated from the University of Michigan and then she went on to graduate from the University of Michigan Law School the next year. She was one of only three women in the law school at the time.

George and Margaret settled in Lowell in 1949, and George formed a partnership with Roger O. McMahon. He had to dissolve his partnership with McMahon in 1953 when he formed a law firm with Richard VanderVeen and Walter Freihofer in Grand Rapids but kept a branch office in Lowell. In 1958 the office was located where Holly’s Critter Care is today. In 1965 George joined Lowell optometrist Dr. H.R. Mueller in building a new professional building at 1125 West Main Street, today this is part of the Calvary Christian Reformed church campus.

In December of 1949 the Cooks made history. Margaret was admitted to the bar, sponsored by her husband. This was the first time that a husband sponsored his wife to be admitted to the bar. Margaret was a pioneer and mentor for women. She was one of the earliest female attorneys in Grand Rapids. In 1958 she was appointed as an Assistant United States Attorney in the West Michigan district, the first since 1938. She also worked for independent law firms, and the trust department of Old Kent Bank, becoming Vice President and Trust Counsel. She was a long-time member of the Grand Rapids Bar Association. Her heart was with the Grand Rapids Red Cross, and she served as the organization’s President.

George’s work experience included being a law clerk for the Michigan Supreme Court early in his career and then as an attorney for the City of Grand Rapids and Civil Counsel for Kent County. He was appointed to the Circuit Court bench in 1975 by Governor William Milliken. George was mentioned in the Grand Rapids Press over 1000 times! He went on to win the future elections. George was diagnosed with cancer in 1977, and his larynx was removed. At first, he used a voice box, but he learned to speak through his esophagus and with the help of his clerk reading his opinions in court, he continued his judicial duties. He persevered through the difficulties, and he was still serving as judge when he died in 1988 at the age of 68.

Though he went many places in life, George Cook was a part of Lowell and Lowell was in his heart. In 1934 when George was only 14, living with his family in Milwaukee, he heard of the death of one of his former neighbors, Mr. Cameron of Highland Hill Dairy. He sat down and wrote a letter to Arie Leeman, who worked and lived at Highland Hill Dairy, to send his regrets. His letter goes on to show the depth of the relationship that he had with his neighbor. He tells Arie of his classes, shares his political views, and adds to an ongoing discussion.

There’s good-natured humor thrown in as George points out that he is glad that Earl Doyle’s family, neighbor to Highland Hill Dairy, is building a den onto his house at 1019 East Main and hopes that they hold loud and noisy dances there to keep Arie awake at night. He then says, “the guys around here have about as much spunk as a knock kneed, pigeon toed, hammer headed, fat bellied, toad faced alligator’s grandpa!” He shares that he hopes to be in Lowell the next year for Showboat week. Signing off he tells Arie “I will be watching the mail diligently for your welcomed letter. And, while you usually wait about one month before you write, let’s you do it a little earlier this time with all of Lowell’s news! I am George Cook, still a Michigander.”
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This fourteen-year-old George grew up to be a lawyer and a judge. He encouraged his wife as she shattered the glass ceiling within the legal community, and he was the first husband to sponsor his wife to the bar. Though he had lived in multiple states growing up, he chose to make Lowell home for his family and law office. He was George Cook, a Lowellite, and a Michigander!