Stone Gardens: Fort Snith native and Navy Admiral was present at the Japanese surrender on USS Missouri
- Dennis McCaslin
- Aug 3
- 2 min read
Charles Maynard Cooke Jr., known as “Savvy” for his sharp thinking and calm leadership, was born on December 19, 1886, in Fort Smith. He grew up on a family farm as one of six children.
His father, Charles Cooke Sr., was a local attorney and former mayor, and his mother, Sarah Bleecker Luce, came from a family with deep naval ties. Cooke’s maternal great-uncle, Rear Admiral Stephen Bleecker Luce, founded the U.S. Naval War College--a legacy that would shape Cooke’s own path.
Cooke graduated from Fort Smith High School at sixteen and earned a mathematics degree from the University of Arkansas in under two years. In 1906, he entered the U.S. Naval Academy, graduating second in his class in 1910.
Cooke married Helena Leslie Temple of Philadelphia in 1913. They had two daughters, but tragedy struck when Helena died by suicide in 1917, and their eldest daughter passed away in 1921.
With his naval duties demanding constant travel, Cooke’s parents helped raise his surviving children in Fort Smith.
In 1921, Cooke remarried. His second wife, Mary Louise Cooper MacMillan, was a reporter in Honolulu. Together, they had three children and eventually settled in Sonoma County, California, where Cooke built a stone farmhouse in 1941.
One of ther sons, Major Charles Maynard Cooke III , also had a distinguished military career. Born in Honolulu he attended high school in California and Tsingtao, China. He graduated from the US Naval Academy in 1953. He was among the quarter of the Naval Academy graduating class that year commissioned in the US Air Force.
Admiral Cooke's brothers also served their country: John B. Cooke was a Navy officer and California legislator, while Stephen B. Cooke, a Navy lieutenant commander, died in a plane crash in 1941.
Cooke’s career spanned both World Wars. He commanded submarines like the USS E-2 and USS S-5, surviving explosions and sinkings while leading daring rescue efforts. During World War II, he commanded the USS Pennsylvania at Pearl Harbor and later helped plan Allied operations at major wartime summits.
He was present at Omaha Beach on D-Day and stood aboard the USS Missouri during Japan’s surrender.
After the war, Cooke led the U.S. Seventh Fleet and Naval Forces in the Western Pacific. He retired in 1948 and later advised the Republic of China and worked in shipbuilding.
Cooke died on December 24, 1970, in Palo Alto, California. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery, Section 8, Grave 5524-EE, alongside his wife Mary and brothers Stephen and John.
His legacy lives on through the annual Admiral Charles M. Cooke Naval Long Range Strategists and Planners Conference, held by the U.S. Naval War College.
