Lasting Memories

Jean Wiltse Cook
May 26, 1921-March 28, 2017
Palo Alto, California

Jean Elizabeth Cook, longtime resident of Palo Alto, died March 28, 2017 at Stanford Hospital after a few years of declining health. She was a great influence on many people, and lived through many changes. As a single mother she created a loving home for her children, and lived a full and rich life. A steadfast feminist, she supported Stanford Women's basketball, Planned Parenthood and campaigned for female candidates including Anna Eshoo and Hillary Clinton. She was born at home on May 26, 1921, in West Seattle, Washington, one of two children of Philip Thomas Wiltse, a civil engineer and Bessie May Dean, a teacher. Her brother, Philip Dean Wiltse, passed away in 2005. She was a 10th generation American, her ancestors having settled in the New York area in the 1620s.

She graduated from West Seattle High School in 1938. During WWII, she worked as a “Rosie” at the Boeing plant in West Seattle about 3 miles from her home. She met Helen Cook during this time, and eventually married Helen’s son, Earl Cook, on June 21, 1947. Earl also graduated from West Seattle High School, in 1937. They spent their first year of married life in Geneva, Switzerland. As one of the few English-speaking typists available, she was recruited to work with a few other women to type up the Geneva Convention. After their year in Switzerland, Earl and Jean returned to the U.S., settling in Moscow, Idaho, where they had three children together. Jean graduated from the University of Idaho in 1957, with a degree in Education.

She divorced Earl in the early 1960s and, as a single mother, moved to California with her three children. She bought a house in Palo Alto in 1967. She was curious about real estate investing and, lacking a mentor at the time, decided to buy the cheapest rental property she could locate in Palo Alto and learn for herself. She purchased a small house on Channing Street and, from then on, normally had a rental property in the area in addition to her main home.

She worked at Stanford University, starting at the Faculty Club, then at the Stanford Press, and both the Geology and Petroleum Engineering Departments. She retired from Stanford University after 31 years and volunteered part-time at the Stanford Health Library, before fully retiring from work. She met her future husband, Ted Aberg, at a Parents without Partners Christmas party in 1974. Ted also had rental properties, so they had mutual interests in common. They moved in together, and she and Ted enjoyed many years together, attending concerts, working in the garden, playing bridge each week, and watching the grandchildren grow. Ted recently took a short flight with her in a B-17, the model of the airplane she worked on in the Boeing plant during the war. After 40 years together, she married him on May 13, 2016.

She attended the Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto and in the last few years, enjoyed attending their Friday night barbecues. Jean Cook is survived by her husband, Ted Aberg; her three children, Jeanette (Steve Huber), Randy (Judy) and Cynthia; and her two grandchildren, Nicholas Huber and Emily Cook.

Plans for a celebration of life are pending. In lieu of gifts or flowers, please consider a donation to Planned Parenthood in her honor.