Richard E. Cook

Richard E. Cook is a former General Authority of the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He served in the Second Quorum of the Seventy from April 5, 1997 to October 6, 2001. During much of his service he was a member of the Asia Area presidency. From 2001 to 2012, he was the chief financial officer of the Perpetual Education Fund. He also served in the Church as a bishop, stake high councilor, stake president’s counselor, and Young Men president.

Cook was born on September 7, 1930, in Pleasant Grove, Utah. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Brigham Young University and his MBA degree from Northwestern University. Most of his career was spent as a financial executive for the Ford Motor Company in Michigan. He retired as general assistant controller.

He and his first wife, Clea, were the parents of four children. After her death in 1984, he married Mary Nielsen in 1988. Together they served as missionaries in Mongolia, and then when a Mongolian mission was formed he was appointed to serve as the first mission president. Mary served as a counselor in the Young Women general presidency from 2007 to 2013 under two presidents, Susan W. Tanner and Elaine S. Dalton.