 Mrs. Cook-Pearl |
Diana Cook-Pearl of Los Altos, an acclaimed teacher, artist and relentless cyclist, died Aug. 23 after a long battle with cancer. Mrs. Cook-Pearl was 70.
The Flint, Mich., native, who received her master’s degree in education from San Jose State University, taught in the adult education program at the Mountain View-Los Altos Union High School District.
“She helped a lot of people improve their English,” said Bob Pearl, her husband of 14 years. “She helped so many lives.”
Mrs. Cook-Pearl was a talented weaver and watercolor painter. But perhaps her greatest talent was an engaging personality and commitment to friends all over the world. Before meeting Bob, Mrs. Cook-Pearl had lived in such diverse places as Ann Arbor, Mich.; Brooklyn, N.Y.; Genoa, Italy; and Mendocino.
“She was really good at fostering friendships and not letting a friend go,” Bob said.
She met Bob while pursuing her passion for cycling. Members of the Western Wheelers bike club, the two met while biking around Sunol Regional Park in 1990. A month later, they registered, separately, in the first “Go Greenbelt!” bike tour, sponsored by the Greenbelt Alliance. They traveled more than 500 miles through nine Bay Area counties.
“We ended up riding it (the annual Go Greenbelt! bike ride) eight more times,” Bob said. The Pearls were married in Bob’s hometown of Glenjean, W. Va., in 1992.
Bob described his wife as “spirited” and determined not to quit. Although not a strong rider, she was a “gutsy” one, he said. No matter how long the bike ride, “she would do every step of it,” he said. “She just wouldn’t give up.”
Bob added, “She loved to bike so much - she always rode her bike to work.”
Mrs. Cook-Pearl is survived by her husband; children Timothy of Boston, Matthew of Louisville, Ky., and Sheila of Seattle; stepson Patrick of San Jose; five grandchildren; and siblings Mary Linda Cook of Los Altos, Richard Cook of Colorado and Arulamma Cook of Delaware.
Services were held Sept. 3 at the Santa Clara Buddhist Center.
Donations made in Mrs. Cook-Pearl’s memory can be sent to Pathways Hospice (www.pathwayshealth.org) or the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (www.fhcrc.org).
