Who are these people?
By Warner M. Montgomery
Warner@TheColumbiaStar.com

Patricia W. Cook retired from Richland One after 33 years as a special education teacher. She was born in Sumter and graduated from Edmunds High School in 1955. She earned a secretarial degree from USC and went to work for the USC School of Journalism and the S.C. Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services.

Patsy Cook yearned to be a teacher, so she went back to school and earned a BA in education in 1970 and later an MA degree. Her interests centered on the rights of the disabled student. Her teaching career began at Logan Elementary School in the program for students with orthopedic disabilities. She moved to Withers School with the program in 1972 and to Brockman School in 1980.

Even before the federal law mandated educational programs for physically disabled students, Cook was a dedicated teacher and advocate for her students. She became one of the first itinerant teachers of students with orthopedic disabilities. It was her duty to go where the students were and make sure they were being educated properly in their classroom setting. She continued to teach one- on- one whenever it was necessary.

On many occasions Cook took her students on field trips throughout the city and the state. Once she took them to Washington, D.C. Cook developed the first Transition Notebook for special education teachers in the district. In 1996, she was elected by her peers as Itinerant Teacher of the Year.

After she retired, Cook continued to work part- time until students in her caseload graduated. In a letter to Cook, a parent of a student with whom she had worked for 12 years, wrote, "You have a gift as a teacher and your own energy, optimism, and caring make you one of a kind."

Cook was a gracious and lovely lady. She earned many titles including being crowned Miss Sumter in 1957 and Miss Columbia in 1958. She participated in the Miss South Carolina pageant twice and was a finalist in 1958.

She married Tom Cook, a vocational education teacher in Richland One, and they shared a 43- year marriage. They had a son and daughter. Patsy Cook died in 2003 at the age of 65.

In early 1959, Patsy Warmoth (later Cook), Miss Columbia 1958, was presented a certificate of appreciation by the United Fund. In this photo Charlie Stork, a member of the United Fund board is at the right. Who is the man at the left and the man presenting the award?

If you know either of these men, contact Warner M. Montgomery, 803-771-0219 or Warner@TheColumbiaStar.com.