Résumé

Draftsman, R. Harold Zook, Architect, Chicago, IL, 1937-1940.

Draftsman, Consoer, Townsend, and Quinlan, and Battey and Childs, Architects-Engineers, Chicago, IL, 1941-1942.

Draftsman, Graham, Anderson, Probst and White, Architects, Chicago, IL, 1942.

Draftsman, Shaw, Naess and Murphy, Architects, Chicago, IL, 1942.

Designer, Clark and Frey, Architects, Palm Springs, CA, 1946-1947.

Partner, Bissner and Zook, Architects, Pasadena, CA.

Principal, Harold B. Zook, Architect, Pasadena, CA, 1948- .

B.Arch., Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, , 1941;

Gargoyle, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 1940; awarded 2nd Medal Thesis, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 1941.

Relocation

In 1996, Zook resided at 485 Morning Canyon Road in Corona Del Mar, CA. (See Ancestry.com, Source Information Ancestry.com. U.S., Public Records Index, 1950-1993, Volume 1 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010, accessed 03/04/2024.)

Parents

His father was Roscoe Harold Zook (born 05/21/1889 in Valparaiso, IN-d. 04/17/1949 in IL), his mother, Mildred Belle Barnard (born 06/09/1896-d. 06/05/1991 in Spring Grove, IL), a significant dancer, teacher and music and dance therapist in the Chicago, IL area. (See “Mildred Dickinson, pioneer in dance therapy,” Chicago Tribune, 06/09/1991, sect. 2, p. 10.) They wed on 08/19/1916 in Chicago, IL, and had one son, Harold. (See Ancestry.com, Source Information Ancestry.com. Cook County, Illinois, U.S., Marriages Index, 1871-1920 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011, accessed 03/04/2024.)

Roscie Harold Zook worked as an prolific architect in Hinsdale, IL, and Chicago, IL. He focused on residential design, and in 1949, he lived at 327 South Oak Street in Hinsdale, and maintained an office at 8 South Dearborn Street in Chicago. Zook held a number of significant positions within Chicago architectural professional circles, including as President of the Architects Club of Chicago and a Director of the Illinois Society of Architects. He also belonged to the Cliff Dwellers, a private club of artists and architects in Chicago.(See “Obituaries: R. Harold Cook,” Chicago Tribune, 04/19/1949, p. 20.) His work was locally significant in Hinsdale, IL, and was the subject of a column by Blair Kamin in the Chicago Tribune in 2005 defending the preservation of the "extraordinary work" by "relatively unknown architects" like Zook. (See Blair Kamen, “How Look brought beauty into everyday spaces,” Chicago Tribune, 03/13/2005, section 7, p. 3.)

Zook divorced Mildred Barnard by the late 1930s and married Florence Barkey Nissen. Mildred continued as a dancer and remarried an investment advisor, Philetus S. Dickinson (born 05/23/1892 in Chicago, IL) by 1945. (See "West Suburban Theater School Will Open Oct. 6,”Chicago Tribune, 09/23/1945, p. 11.)

Spouse

Zook married Joan Hoof in Parsons, KS, in 10/1941.

Children

When surveyed in 1955, Zook reported having had three children.