Q: The Cooke family has a long history in Collingswood. Do you want to give us the short version of your Collingswood story?

JC: Sure. My parents met in Illinois. My mother’s family is from a small town outside of Chicago called Windford. My father’s family is from here. My father was stationed at Scott Air Force Base and my mother was an art major at the University of Illinois. They married shortly after they met, and both my brother, Chance and I were born in Windford. When my father’s parent’s health began to fail we relocated here to Collingswood, where my other brothers: Paxton, Drew, Owen, Gavin, and Jakob were born here. My dad would frequently deploy and my mother relied heavily on family and this community to help her bring up seven unruly boys. Chance, Drew and Jakob have always lived in Collingswood, with the exception of when they served in the Air Force. Gavin and Owen live in the Chicago area and I recently retired from the Air Force and bought the local medical practice and I’m excited to the back.

 

Q:  And your parents? Where are they now?

JC: They are back in Windford. When my mother’s parents passed they moved to the Harper family homestead.

Q: All of you served in the military?

JC: We did. All of us did at least one tour in the Air Force. In fact, my brother Jakob is still active in the Air Force Reserves.

Q:  What did you do in the Air Force?

JC: I was a flight surgeon providing care for injured troops as we transported them from the front to Ramstein Air Force Base.

Q: You’ve lived all over the world. Why come back to Collingswood?

JC:  It feels good to come back to my roots. I have lived in many places but I knew I wanted to spend the later part of my career here where I could re-establish relationships with the family and enjoy the slower pace of Collingswood.

Q:  You took over Dr. Wilson’s old practice. What kind of doctor will you be for our community?

JC:  It’s a great question. Of course, I am committed to caring for the people of Collingswood when they are sick or injured. I want it to be more than that. I would like to develop a health partnership with all of our residents so that we work together to stay healthy. I don’t just want to see people when they are feeling poorly.

Q: What’s your one vice; the thing that you love doing that you shouldn’t?

JC:  I eat way too many Doritos.

Q:  Do you have any health challenges yourself that you would be willing to share with us?

JC: I suffer from occasional migraines. I try hard to manage my diet and my stress levels. Fortunately, they are infrequent and not terribly severe when they happen.