LODWRICK COOK

COOK--Lodwrick ("Lod") Monroe, III Passed away peacefully on September 28 in Sherman Oaks, CA. Raised in Grand Cane, Louisiana, he graduated high school in a class of only five students and rose from engineering trainee to become chairman and CEO of Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO), which was hailed during his tenure as the best-led company in the United States. Lod led the building of the Trans Alaska Pipeline, co-chaired the board of directors of Global Crossing, which built 130,000 miles of undersea fiber optic networks around the world, was Founding Chairman of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library Foundation, and served on the boards of George and Barbara Bush Presidential Library Foundation, Lockheed Corp., and Castle & Cooke. His boundless energy and folksy charm extended beyond business to the support of new generations. His largesse and dedication to education resulted in the construction of a 128-room alumni center for his alma mater, Louisiana State University, to the chancellor's court of Oxford University in England, as well as long service to Pepperdine University and the Jimmy Carter Center at Emory University. Invested as an honorary Knight Commander of the British Empire, he was a revered philanthropist and businessman with an unwavering commitment to local and international causes. When arson damaged the Los Angeles Central Library in 1986, Lod donned a cowboy hat and boots to lead Save the Books, a campaign to restore the beloved architectural landmark. The Library's marble chamber is now named the Lodwrick Cook Rotunda in honor of the first chairman of the Library Foundation of Los Angeles. When riots heavily damaged his adopted city, he stepped forward to serve as a chairman of Rebuild L.A. An icon of social and financial success, he turned his powers to those less fortunate with support of the innovative Dome Village for the Homeless, providing geodesic street housing. His wide-ranging commitment extended to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and Arco Plaza at the Museum of Contemporary Art. Lod's imprint on Los Angeles will never be forgotten. Equally at home analyzing petroleum deposits as he was receiving recognition for Anglo- American relations from the Prince of Wales, he brought the best of Louisiana to Los Angeles, and taught the lessons he'd learned from each. He was emeritus in every sense--thoughtful, determined, committed, sympathetic, and nobody's fool. His legacy as a friend, mentor and leader and his passion to make the world better will be remembered by all whose lives he touched. His beloved wife, Carole, predeceased him in 2010. He is survived by his five children and ten grandchildren. Friends, associates and others who looked to him for advice must now put into action the lessons he taught by example. Gary and Karen Winnick