This week’s Rotarian spotlight is on a member who was raised in the small community of Clearmont, Wyoming. He attended Arvada-Clearmont High School, home of the Panthers! At the time of his schooling, Arvada-Clearmont was the smallest consolidated school in Wyoming. He graduated in 1980, in a graduate class of 8!
He recalls his first job was working at the Pay & Save in Clearmont. He was 5 years old, or thereabouts, and he cleaned the stock room for twenty-five cents and a soda. Incidentally, he put in a total of 12 years at the store, working all the way up through high school.
After high school, he moved to Laramie to attend the University of Wyoming where he earned a degree in business management. He is also a graduate of the Graduate School of Banking at the University of Colorado, in Boulder. After graduating from UW, he got a job in Cheyenne with the State of Wyoming, serving as a bank examiner. He would later move over to the private side of the banking world. He has been in the banking industry for over 35 years and currently serves as Director of Community Banking at First National Bank of Omaha.
David Cook has been married to his wife, Julie, for 32 years. He met her while working at the State Examiner’s office and they share a few interesting coincidences. First, they were both born in Sheridan, 3 years apart. They both went to the University of Wyoming, 3 years apart. They both lived in Denver during the same period of time, and they both moved to Cheyenne for work at about the same time, where they met…. finally! David and Julie have two children, a daughter who is a teacher in Boise, Idaho, and a son who is a computer engineer in Troy, Michigan.
One of his most memorable moments as part of our Rotary Club was being involved in the Teacher and Student of the Month program. He served as Chair of the Committee and thoroughly enjoyed being able to share wonderful news about people who don’t often get the recognition they deserve.
Of his accomplishments, David is quite proud to have been part of the Library Foundation and helping in efforts to raise the capital necessary to build our amazing public library.
The aspects of Rotary that he most enjoys surround service above self, networking, and building upon the long-term relationships that he has been able to acquire through the Club. David was sponsored into Rotary by Bob Shriner.
In his free time, David enjoys traveling, especially on cruise ships. In fact, he and Julie have been on over 20 cruises in their lifetime. They love exploring new places and cultures. He also enjoys spending time outdoors, and of course, spending time with family.
Finally, if given the option to choose his perfect dinner he would go with a nice prime rib, with potato, butter, sour cream, brussel sprouts and a rather large, iced tea!
