Employee Spotlight: Joseph Cook, Jr.

   

Joseph Cook Jr.

Joseph Cook Jr., known to many simply as Joe, no last name needed as everyone knew who you were referring to, will be retiring from the Arboretum and Landscape Services division of Facilities Management in December, 2022.  Joe has been a valuable member of the campus community for many years, starting in September 1971, when he started working for 5 years for the Research Greenhouses as a part time student employee, before he graduated with a degree in horticulture.  Joe received a partial scholarship and participated in a work study program.  Joe is currently a manager in the Arboretum and Landscape Services division of Facilities Management.

After Joe graduated from the University of Maryland, he started full time on May 17, 1976, as a groundskeeper for the University of Maryland Grounds Department, which was part of the Physical Plant at that time.  Facilities Management did not exist yet.  His first day was memorable to him as he spent the day on his knees pulling weeds in a landscape bed in front of Denton Dining Hall.  By the end of the week, his feet were throbbing and he could barely walk as he had purchased some cheap dime store boots that were made out of plastic.  His supervisor 'Duke' told him 'Son, let me tell you something.  The most important thing you can have is a good pair of boots as you have to walk a lot.'  Joe went out and bought himself a good pair of construction boots. Later, 'Duke' would go on to be a mentor and like a father to Joe.

Joe's time as a student employee spent in the greenhouse is where he got introduced to horticulture.  Originally, his major was as a landscape architecture student.  Tom Blessington, the manager of the greenhouse, taught Joe a lot.  Joe met a lot of the horticulture professors through working at the greenhouse.  He became in charge of weekend watering in his second year there and spent 16 hours each weekend taking care of his duties.

Soon after Joe started for Grounds, he became in charge of the mowing crew.  As he was doing his duties around campus, one young lady in particular stood out and caught his attention.  He kept running into her a number of times across campus.  Joe eventually stopped his mower and asked her what her name was and got her telephone number.  They were casual friends for a period of time as she had a boyfriend at the time.  Eventually, Joe got a call from this young lady to attend a family gathering.  Joe's early comment to a coworker, before that he even met this young lady turned out to be prophetic.  He told his coworker 'James, I am going to marry that girl one day.'

The first version of the giant floral M in the center of a roundabout on Campus Drive had just been completed when Joe arrived and he helped with the planting of it.

Joe is the young man in the lower right with the big smile!

Joe is in the upper part of the photo and is the gentleman standing in the lowest part of the V on top of the M.

Joe chose by fate almost the same location in respect to the M that he chose in the group photo taken some 40 years earlier.

In the fall of 1979, Joe helped plant 300 oaks about 2 inch caliper (12-14 feet tall) on campus.  Morris Landes (Peewee) used a Gradall excavator to dig the holes.  Joe was on the backfill crew.  They removed the top part of both the burlap and wire basket before filling in the hole.  They made a watering saucer before another crew came along to stake the trees.  Many of those oak trees were used in the allees of Willow Oaks planted on either side of the upper half of McKeldin Mall, the half closest to McKeldin Library.  The lower half of McKeldin Mall, the half closest to the Administration Building had been planted much earlier and already had well established Willow Oaks growing there.  Joe was part of a very well coordinated and efficient team and Joe is rightly still very proud of being part of this project.    

This is one of the first trees that Joe planted on the above mentioned project on the upper part of McKeldin Mall. The trees on either side of the sidewalk in the above photo that seem to march off into infinity on the left were all planted by Joe.

Above is a size comparison of Joe and one of those Willow Oak trees he planted in the fall of 1979.

Joe pointed out the location of the first tree planted in the McKeldin Mall planting project in the fall of 1979 and the direction in that they moved after planting that first tree.  Unfortunately, that first tree died and has been replaced with a smaller tree.

Joe also helped plant the Columnar English Oak trees in front of the Chemical & Nuclear Engineering Building.  They were a lot smaller when he planted them!

When Joe first started working for Grounds, it was located in the basement of the Service Building under Work Control, now known as the Customer Service Center on the east side of US 1 highway.  There were two ramps at one time to access this area.  The head of Grounds was Charles Kehoe, the brother of the Athletic Director, James Kehoe.

Joe is thankful to mentors such as Jerome Sellers (Duke), the manager of the North side of campus, Dick White, James Adams, the top tree guy and Tom Blessington from the Research Greenhouses.  Duke became a good friend over 25 years and taught Joe patience, vision, tree identification and how to plant them.  Every experience that Joe had at the university taught him something.

Joe mentioned that he met a lot of people over the years at the University of Maryland and made a lot of friendships.  He really enjoyed his time here and likes the fact he was able to work in an educational environment.

Joe cleaning up the snow in parking lot CC by the Manufacturing Building on Regents Drive an unknown number of years ago.  unknown photographer

This Cherry tree, first planted around Christmas time many years ago in a newly completed brick planter built by Grounds/Landscape Services masons has special significance to Joe.  He has a special memory and story about its installation.  Ask him about it!  It is located at the intersection of Regents Drive and Fieldhouse Drive in front of the Toll Physics Building. 

The above photo is of Joe engaged in some well mannered frivolity, dancing, in his younger years at a Physical Plant (the precursor to Facilities Management) catered Christmas/holiday party in the South Dining Hall.  Beer was served by the university at this time at the party; however, Joe does not drink and did not need any beer to loosen up and have fun!  The two ladies in the background were timekeepers from payroll.  One of them was Sue Elliot.  It was a much smaller group at that point in time and had more of a family touch as people knew each other much better.  unknown photographer

The above photo is of, from left to right, President William E. Kirwan; Joseph Cook, Jr.; and Frank Brewer at an award ceremony where Joe was the recipient of an award.  unknown photographer

The above photo is of, from left to right, President C.D. 'Dan' Mote, Jr.; Joseph Cook, Jr.; and Harry Teabout, Sr. at an award ceremony where Joe was the recipient of an award.  unknown photographer

The above photo is of, from left to right, Joseph Cook, Jr. and Harry Teabout, Sr. at an award ceremony where Joe was the recipient of an award. unknown photographer

The above photo was taken on Maryland Day, 2022.  President Pines stopped by to thank the group for their hard work.  Left to right: President Darryll J. Pines; Joseph Cook, Jr.; Clifton Sutton, Marcus Lisier and Edward F. Williams, Jr.  unknown photographer

Joe Cook has known Edward F. William, Jr., an assistant manager with Arboretum and Landscape Services from the time that Ed was still a kid.  They have worked together over 35 years.  'In all of those 35 years, you couldn't have asked for a better person to work for than Joe Cook according to Ed.  He stated that Joe has always been a laid back supervisor and very personable.  According to Ed, Joe has always had an interest in planting trees.  

In 1988, there was a Veterans Day storm with high winds that took down many trees around campus and left trees and limbs covering roads and walks.  Ed said that Joe gave him and others a quick crash course in driving John Deere tractors so they could clear the roads and sidewalks.

Joe taught Ed how to plant balled and burlapped trees.  The first trees that Ed planted were 3 Crabapples along Campus Drive in the Hornbake Plaza area.  Those 3 Crabapples turned out to be Apple trees.

Joe helped Ed look at things from a different angle.  Joe taught Ed how to be a true manager, how to manage people.  He told Ed 'Don't be afraid to give people assignments!' Joe taught Ed how to manage on an even keel.  Ed is grateful for having someone like Joe mentor him.

Richard Jones, our campus arborist, stated that 'Joe has always been very calm and in good humor.  He has been a great living history resource.  He can point out things that no longer exist on campus.'

University of Maryland Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer, Carlo Colella congratulated Joe on his retirement and thanked Joe for his many years of service on December 12, 2022 at the President's Holiday Open House on December 12, 2022. 

This closeup photo of Joe was taken at the main gate to the University off of US1 Highway, often referred to as North Gate.  I wanted to cut the adjacent tree down so there would not be tree shadows on Joe's face; however, the campus arborist would not let me do that.

Above is a photo of Joe's family including his wife Turnetta on the sofa, children and grandchildren.  Joe stated 'Who would have thought that while creating a beautiful landscape for the University of Maryland that he would meet a young lady that would later become his wife and together they would create a beautiful landscape for life.' 

We are very grateful for Joe's hard work, wisdom and humor over the years!  He has earned a wonderful retirement.  Thank you Joe!

 Employee Spotlight

Penny Abbey, Landscape Tech Supervisor, with the University of Maryland Landscape Services will be retiring on January 31, 2020.  Penny started her career at UMD in May, 1989 under the guidance of Jack Andrews, a maintenance chief for Grounds Maintenance as Landscape Services was called back in the day, in an entry level position known as a series 40 Groundskeeper.

Penny grew up in Point Pleasant, New Jersey about 1 mile from the ocean in the famous 'Garden State'.  She has always loved flowers and had an African Violet collection in high school.  Her last year of high school, Penny worked for a company that raised and sold flowers and produce at a farm stand.  Guessing that she might have raised some of the world famous 'Jersey Tomatoes' developed by Rutgers University.  Once I used very large, ripe tomatoes from a farm stand near Salem, New Jersey to make a wonderful tomato soup that I have never been able to replicate!  Possibly because I never had the opportunity to get inexpensive, fully ripened New Jersey Tomatoes again.

Penny worked at a photo lab among other places before moving to this area to be closer to her family and getting her position at the University of Maryland.  Penny has enjoyed the variety of different people that she has been able to work with over the years at UMD as well as being able to work with many different kinds of flowers.  Penny has enjoyed having the opportunity to learn about the difference in backgrounds of a diverse group of coworkers and how that they may think differently than her, because of their unique backgrounds.

When asked as to what was her favorite plant, Penny did not hesitate to state 'Tulips'!  That did not come as surprise to me as I have observed some magnificent plantings of tulips by Penny and her crew in the years that I have been here.  See photos below!  Penny introduced the use of Colorblends Tulip mixes to campus, long before that I and many others started working at UMD.  The spring bulb blends by this company were and still are amazing!  Penny first introduced the use of these tulips in a groundcover bed with a sculpture near a west entrance to the Chemistry Building, when that she was under the direction of Skip (Dwight Crutchfield).

Bird watching is a hobby of Penny that has led to a number of trips to destinations where that the primary goal was to be able to watch birds.  She is a big fan of foreign films.  She is interested in literature discussing the Holocaust and has a small library of books on the subject.  Penny is an ardent supporter of animal rights.

Advice for home gardeners?  'Patience is a virtue' comes to mind for Penny as a number of good plants need to be nurtured.

Advice to young people?  'Money isn't everything; take care of your body and expand your mind' is sage advice from Penny.

Who influenced her the most positively over the years at Landscape Services?  Penny would like to give special thanks to Joseph Cook, Jr, Manager at UMD Arboretum and Landscape Services, for being a mentor, life coach, great boss and a wonderful human being.

Penny wishes the best of luck to all of those coworkers that remain behind after her retirement.  Please stop by and say goodby to Penny before her last day on January 31, 2020.  The University of Maryland will be missing a wealth of knowledge and creativity when Penny retires as she is a very talented horticulturist!

Penny's most intensely managed area with gardens in recent years has been at the entrance to the Child Youth Center (CYC).  The traffic circle in front has seen many changes over the years as Penny likes to try new plants there.

Below are some photos taken on April 16th, 2014 of a spectacular planting of tulips in front of Jull Hall that Penny ordered for her and her crew to install the previous fall.  There have been many other such exciting bulb plantings over the years by Penny and her crew in multiple locations around campus such as at the Child Youth Center, LaPlata Beach, the Health and Human Performance Building, the University Farm, the former Presidents Home before the new University House was installed etc.

Another inspirational planting that Penny designed was of late spring/early summer blooming Alliums (more than 1 cultivar) weaving between and emerging at the edge of Maiden Grass (Miscanthesis sinensis) in the parking lot island bed in front of the Child Youth Center.  The below photos were taken on May 23, 2013.

Below are photos taken by an unknown photographer earlier in Penny's career, sometime prior to 2006.