By Bob Belcher
Daily Sun
Longtime Corsicana businessman Leland Cook passed away Friday at the age of 75.
Cook was a banker, rancher, race horse owner, and founder of Master Vend in Corsicana, as well as the video game company Tradewest, whose beginnings in Corsicana launched several world-famous video game titles. He also worked for many years at the Corsicana Daily Sun, serving as the paper’s circulation manager.
Cook and his family — wife Sue, and four sons, Byron, Ken, Lance and Rob — moved to Corsicana in 1967 when Cook joined the Daily Sun. A fifth son, Brad, was born in 1970.
In 1972, Cook purchased Cabell’s Grocery Store, and in 1975 purchased what was then Cranford Vending Company and renamed the company Master Vend. Cook’s son Lance now operates that business. Tradewest was created along with son Byron in 1985, and the company gained international success with its video game products.
Cook then pursued a lifelong ambition in the late 1980s with the purchase of what is now Richland Ranch, and turned his attention to the horse racing industry. He became a prominent owner and horse breeder in Texas, and received many awards and accolades from the industry.
Cook’s contributions to the community were many, and his impact on the lives of thousands throughout Navarro County will live long in the memories of those he touched. It was with the help of the Cook family that Navarro College was able to complete the Cook Education Center, a facility that now houses not only a planetarium, but is home to one of the nation’s foremost collections of Civil War artifacts and Western Art in the Pearce Museums.
“Mr. Cook was an integral part of the Navarro College Foundation,” said Lloyd Huffman, a college trustee and also a foundation member. “We really benefited from Mr. Cook’s wisdom ... we always looked forward to him being at our meetings because he had wonderful ideas and great viewpoints on things.
“He loved the college ... he was a great contributor, and really will be missed.”
His love of the youth in the county was exemplified by his participation in many youth-oriented activities throughout his years, including years spent coaching Little League Baseball — the American Reds — and as an active participant in the Navarro County Youth Exposition’s annual premium sale.
“Back in the early 70’s, Leland had a Little League baseball team,” recalled Zane Stites of Community National Bank and Trust of Texas, where Cook was a board member. “He asked me to help him, and for the next 15 years we had baseball teams. And we had great fun with it.
“He was good for those kids,” Stites said. “He never got tired of it ... looking back on it, it was something pretty special.”
Stites characterized Cook as “a good man,” one who loved his family.
“Anything he did, he did well. He thought a lot of his family.”
One of those youngsters who played for Cook’s teams over the years was James Lagomarsino, now 13th District Court judge in Navarro County. Lagomarsino played for Cook in the early 1980s, and recalled the time fondly.
“I probably looked forward to all the things that were irrelevant at the time,” Lagomarsino said with a laugh. “He had a Winnebago, and that’s how we would go to different baseball tournaments ... after the game we’d have Pepsi and vending machine sandwiches. We always thought we were very important for that.”
Lagomarsino said Cook had nicknamed him “Iceman” for his pitching for the team, a name appropriate because “I pitched so slow that by the time the ball got to the plate, they had already swung at it.
“It was certainly enjoyable being with him,” he added. “I’ll certainly miss him.”
Cook served as Lagomarsino’s campaign treasurer during his 2008 run for the bench.
Jim Acker, another part of Cook’s Little League baseball and youth football coaching crew, recalled a lifetime association with Cook, and his love of helping children.
“We went to high school together, we played football together,” said Acker. The two eventually went in different directions from their high school homes in Abilene, only to find themselves both living in Corsicana many years later through a chance meeting.
“We were at a Bowie Fun Night,” Acker recalled, “and he walked by. That was the first time we even knew we were in the same town.”
Acker said Cook was a great influence on the kids that he coached.
“Those kids really had a lot of respect for him ... every one of those kids got to play, whether they were good, bad, or indifferent. He made sure that happened,” Acker recalled.
Some of those players on Cook’s baseball and football teams also found themselves as newspaper carriers for the Daily Sun, Acker said.
“I was down there when they were all back there rolling the papers and putting those plastic bags on them. He was right in the middle of them having a good time,” Acker said.
K.C. Wyatt of Community National Bank and Trust recalled his high school years spent playing basketball with Cook’s son, Byron — now the State Representative for the area — and his relationship with Leland Cook through the years.
Wyatt said that Cook, a member of the bank’s board of directors, was always interested in helping people.
“That’s what I remember him most for. He was always willing to try to give an individual an opportunity to improve themselves,” Wyatt said. “He was a very dedicated member of the board, and proud to be a member of the Community National Bank and Trust operation.
“He has always been a gentleman, and a gentle man,” Wyatt said. “We’ll certainly miss him.”
Cook’s contributions to the Navarro County Youth Exposition helped set the stage for the success the annual event’s premium sale now enjoys, said Glenn Smith, a longtime Expo chairman and volunteer.
“He was one of the first ones to really step up and make the Youth Expo what it is now,” Smith said. “He was an icon of what Corsicana was, and is now.”
Smith said Cook and his wife Sue were always willing to help out in the community, no matter what the cause.
“They understood their roots,” Smith said. “They were willing to give back to Corsicana ... they are an exceptional family that Corsicana can be extremely proud of.”
Visitation will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2009, at the Corley Funeral Home. Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m., Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2009, at Northside Baptist Church with the Rev. Rick Lamb officiating. A private family burial will be held at a later date.
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Bob Belcher may be contacted via e-mail at belcher@corsicanadailysun.com. Want to “Soundoff” on this story? E-mail soundoff@corsicanadailysun.com.
