Dennis Cookinham

DENNIS COOKINHAM
September 29, 1946 ˜ August 29, 2023

Dennis Cookinham was born on Sept. 29, 1946, to Kenneth and Blanche (Hollis) Cookinham in Atlantic City, NJ. After spending most of his childhood in Catholic orphanages and foster care, he enlisted in the Navy during the Vietnam War. He met his wife, Jeanie, in Oregon through a Navy buddy, Carl Rasmussen.
A natural born salesman, Dennis had to work hard to convince 21-year-old Jean Clare Gallipo to marry him in 1970; she always said he was too pretty, but he was also smart and funny. Dennis became a friend of Bill’s on Dec. 4, 1979, and, although stricken with melanoma in 1986, he was grateful to his AA friends for their help in maintaining his connection with his Higher Power and his continuing sobriety. Many of his AA friends and golf buddies came to visit him in San Francisco General while he underwent three rounds of Interleukin 2 and he was interviewed by Channel 5 from his hospital bed during the week that FDA debated whether to approve the protocol. He maintained long friendships with many program members and was grateful to them in helping to keep both his sobriety and his golf clubs unbroken.
Dennis enjoyed Jeanie’s family _ her father, Leslie R. Gallipo; her mother, Jean Stark Gallipo; her sister, Janet Gallipo Ferguson (all deceased); and her brother, Leslie K. Gallipo, now living in Florida. He also counted Clyde Ferguson (Jan’s ex-husband) as a good friend and he liked talking with Merle Gallipo, Jeanie’s uncle, who lived in Stevenson, WA, until he passed. Dennis confessed later that he was a little overwhelmed when the Gallipo and Clark clans all got together. Jeanie’s family included her grandparents, Ray and Lena (Dahl who passed in 1971); her grandfather, Ralph Whitney Stark (died 1971); six Gallipo uncles (Ken, Merle, Glen, Jay, Jim and Duke); and her aunt Girlie (Eunice Gallipo married Jeanie’s second cousin, Keith Clark, on her mother’s side); as well as all the spouses and cousins. There’s a two-volume book written about the Hibberts, Jeanie’s mother’s family (Jeanie’s grandmother, Esther Amy Hibbert Stark Hannaly, passed in 1950).
Dennis was not formally trained as an electrical engineer; he got his start as an electronics technician in the Navy during the Vietnam War and enjoyed a long career in the field, training artists in creating special effects for the entertainment business. He enjoyed using computer programs to monitor financial activities and made a few bucks having fun in the stock market. Jeanie suggested they move back to the Pacific Northwest in 2014, buying a home and enjoying retirement.
Dennis enjoyed keeping up on current events and discussing politics with new program friends, men’s AA retreats and bringing AA to prisons. When pushed into it, he even liked gardening with Jeanie. He could usually be found with a cat curled up on his lap. They were married almost 53 years, and were only separated by Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s on Aug. 28, 2023.
Memorial arrangements have not yet been made.
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