Richard “Cookie” Cook, a Provincetown native and decorated U.S. Army veteran, died on July 14, 2025 in Lansing, Kans. The cause was cardiac arrest. He was 96.
Richard was born on July 7, 1929, the sixth of seven siblings. His parents were the late Frank and Clara Cook, owners of Cookie’s Tap, a Portuguese bar and restaurant at 133 Commercial St. Richard was mischievous as a young man and landed in jail, said his daughter, Brenda Burns. His mother gave him an ultimatum: stay in jail or join the Army.
Richard picked the latter, and what followed was a proud decades-long career in military service. When he first signed up, he was assigned to go to Germany. World War II had ended, and the Army was working to repatriate displaced people and prisoners of war back to their home countries.
Later, Richard was stationed in Okinawa, Japan when Marlon Brando and other actors came to there to make the 1957 film Sayonara. He was chosen as an extra, and he appears on-screen in an officer’s uniform for about 10 seconds, said Richard’s son Patrick. In the movie, an American pilot falls in love with a Japanese dancer, and their relationship challenges taboos about interracial relationships.
Life imitates art: Richard met his future wife while stationed in Japan. Kazuko Narita spoke very little English, and Richard spoke even less Japanese. Still, the two bonded and married in Sapporo in 1959. Their oldest son, Thomas, was born in Japan.
Cookie fought in Korea, where he was wounded and awarded a Purple Heart. He did two tours in Vietnam, one of which was during the 1968 Tet Offensive. He received the Combat Infantryman’s Badge, two Bronze Stars, and the Meritorious Medal Award, and other military honors.
He retired from the Army in 1975 and got a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Park University in Parkville, Mo. He began working at the federal penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kans., where he started off as a security guard and later became a food administrator — in keeping with his family’s tradition of keeping people fed.
“I think it was fulfilling for him,” Patrick said. “The weather in Kansas was really, really bad, but he never missed a day because he knew the importance of being there. People had to eat.” He retired from that position in 1995 after 20 years of service.
In the 1990s, Richard, who enjoyed hunting and fishing, picked up an unusual habit: he started collecting Beanie Babies. “He would buy them in groups of five so that all the kids could have Beanie Babies, and he had a master set himself,” said Patrick, adding that he still keeps many of the stuffed animals in boxes in his garage.
Patrick remembered advice his dad gave him: “You can never lead from fear. They will follow you, but they won’t respect you. Lead by example.” The example Richard set was one of stoicism and devotion to his family, said Patrick, who, like many people in his family, is also a veteran. Every other summer, Brenda said, the family drove to Provincetown in an RV and saw their extended family. “He was just the best daddy,” she said.
Richard is survived by his wife, Kazuko, and four children: Thomas and wife Kim, James and wife Cheryl, Brenda and husband Douglas, and Patrick and wife Wendy. He also leaves four granddaughters, Shannon, Heather, Nicole, and Megan; four grandsons, Blake, Dalton, Chase, and Casey; five great-grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews.
He was predeceased by his son Edward, who died in childhood, and by his sister, Viola, and his five brothers, Wilbur, Phillip, Joe, Francis, and Ralph.
Richard was buried on Aug. 15 at the Leavenworth National Cemetery with full military honors.
