Cooke, Kenneth Lewis
Kenneth Lewis Cooke. The Columbus Zoo lost a great friend and partner earlier this year. Kenneth “Ken” Lewis Cooke died at the age of 70 in Nashville, Tennessee on September 28 after giving cancer a long-distance run to the
finish. His wife Sabrina
(Dodson) Cooke and their daughter Madison carried him with enduring devotion
throughout his final journey
and brought him back to this city that he loved to be buried at Resurrection Cemetery on October 9 of this year. Ken was born in Marietta, Ohio on October
2, 1949 to Homer Gerald
Cooke and Margaret Ann (Pouzide) Cooke (both
deceased). He is survived
by his sister, Mary Weddle; and brothers, Francis and
Gerald Cooke; his Aunt Geraldine Pouzide; and his eldest daughter, Sarah Cooke and her mother, Patricia Mccoy Cooke of Mar
ietta. He graduated from Marietta High School and
was a Business/econ graduate of Marietta College (B.A. 1971) and The Ohio
University Graduate School
of Business Accounting (MBA 1976), where he had earned the Lifetime Achievement Award. Ken was a revered member of Delta Upsilon fraternity at Marietta and his loss is greatly mourned by his brothers. While Ken will be well remembered by his many friends and associates that he partnered with on a variety of adventures, it was his long-standing relationship with the Columbus Zoo that he considered his fondest experience. Ken served the Columbus Zoo as its Treasurer and ultimately became the Chairman of the Board. During his tenure with the Zoo, he played a role in the
arrival of Jack Hannah, the
acquisition of our beloved Pandas from China, and the expansion of the Columbus Zoo into becoming one of the most recognized zoological institutions in
the world. His business life
was no less rewarding. Ken was a managing partner
of the Columbus office of
Pricewaterhousecoopers and subsequently served
the international firm as the Global ebusiness Leader
1998-2002 and ultimately
as Global CIO from 20012008. His work took him to major financial centers
across the globe and to the halls of Congress. After
retirement from his first
career, Ken was recruited to be the EVP & Chief Oper
ating Officer of Intermedix
Corp, a physician and EMS RCM, practice management and analytics enterprise that he helped expand to national prominence. Ken was active in the United Way, was a member of the Trustees Academy at Ohio University, an Executive Board member of the San Francisco Zoo, served as an advisor to the BYU School of Accountancy &
Information Systems, and
is a past board member of the Columbus Foundation.
He most recently served
on the board of Lancaster Colony. Everyone who knew Ken will remember him for his big smile, unlimited energy, and his enthusiastic curiosity about everything. Donations in honor of his memory can be made to the Columbus Zoo at: https://give.columbuszoo. org/cooke-bench