Obituaries

Allen Ursus Cook (Kanat’á.S’eek) was born on Aug. 26th, 1999, already in conversation with this earth. Deeply rooted to the bounties of Southeast Alaska, he loved salmon from the ocean and berries from the forest, fulfilling a prophetic dream of the bear that his mother had numerous times during her pregnancy. He was Xuna Káawu, Kaagwaantaan, and a grandchild of the T’akdeintaan. Allen upheld several of our traditional Lingit values from the time he was little, including Respect for Others, Respect for Nature, and Humor. He loved to laugh, and to make others laugh. Laughter was carried with him from his childhood through adulthood, where he fit in with the other Lingit uncles by giving people fitting nicknames, telling clever jokes, and engaging in creative storytelling, all done with thoughtfulness and care. He loved and cared very deeply for the world around him, honoring and respecting the people he crossed paths with, our animal relatives, and our Mother Earth as he played in and harvested from our forests and oceans, being the gentle bear he was. In sixth grade, students were required to learn a musical instrument or sing in the chorus. After much protest, his mother assigned him the viola. Within a month or two, classical music, in all its forms (playing, composing, listening) became one of his lifelong passions. Subsequently, he learned piano, cello, bass, viola but eventually favored violin, noting in his unvarnished honesty, “...violinists get all the good parts...”. Years later, he composed original classical music and, most recently, created variations on Bach’s Goldberg Variations. Reserved and deeply analytical, Allen was a keen chess player who found online Lichess, the perfect venue for his thoughtful, measured approach to the game. He loved learning and mastering strategic games, including his favorites Go and Kōnane. Despite his many talents, Allen remained quietly humble and rarely spoke of his achievements staying focused instead on the problem at hand; the puzzle laid before him. Whether working through a musical passage, writing computer code, studying a chess position, playing hide and seek in the forest, fishing and picking berries, or earning recognition as the top Russian-language student in his high school senior class, Allen’s satisfaction came not from praise, but from understanding. When people came to him with their own questions, puzzles, and requests for help, he aided them, without hesitation or expectation of reward. His kindness and thoughtfulness were often noted by those who crossed paths with him. Allen was a participant in Codefy through Sealaska, then went on to participate in a summer internship, also through Sealaska, which led to a full time job. He worked for OurWorlds, a technology organization developing public-facing digital projects. Allen created a program for an educational project for fourth through eighth-grade students, consisting of the visualization of energy usage in the U.S. that allows students to compare different sectors by navigating through a website to activate animations. When this project launches, it will be used in energy-conservation curriculum throughout California classrooms. Allen’s work colleagues described him as “curious, disciplined, and quietly extraordinary...yet so humble and kind...with a level of intellect and skill which is incredibly rare.” Allen is survived by his mother, Stacy Eldemar (Patrick Ripp); sister, Sheridan Cook; brother, Daemon Cook; father, Michael Cook (Donald Irvis); grandmother Marlene Ripp, numerous aunts, uncles and cousins, and three cats. Allen is preceded in death by grandparents John Eldemar Jr; Mary Berg; Jan Berg; Edward Ripp; Allen Franklin Cook Jr (Joan). In lieu of flowers, please consider giving donations in honor of Allen to one of the following causes: https://salmonbeyondborders.org/ https://www.herringprotectors.org/ http://www.codefyfoundation.org/support-us