Articles tagged with: Cherreesse
Alaska Remembers Dan Cook (Cherresse)
Dan Cook, aka Cherreese, was an active member of the Imperial Court of All Alaska for many years before retiring to Oregon. He passed away from cancer at approximately 10 p.m. Alaska time on January 7, 2010. The funeral is tomorrow in Eugene, Oregon, and on February 20 the Anchorage gay community will host a local Celebration of Life.
Mikey LaChoy, Emperor 25, wrote:
“We are going to have a memorial of sorts for Wawa… the “All About Cherreesse – Wawa Party.” We’ll meet for WaWas [Cherreesse’s favorite drink] at the Raven for an hour from 6-7pm, then parade over to Myrna’s (Crowns and Gowns) and put on a fundraiser show as she would have wanted. Dress code: everyone wear white wigs!”
Princess Felicia in Eugene is creating a memory album (leave your remembrances as comments, and I will send them to her.) LaChoy began by sharing his photos and memories:
Alaska Greives for Mama WaWa
To our brothers and sisters in Eugene,
I would like to take a few minutes to share with you some of Dan Cook’s (Empress Cherresse) accomplishments in Alaska and some of our fond memories of him. Please bear in mind that we in Alaska may not be thinking clearly as we are grieving along with all those in so many places who have been touched by Dan during his great life.
As Cherresse said in a bio written for the Imperial Court of All Alaska’s 25th Anniversary, he felt a part of Alaska and its Court from the very beginning. Cherresse was at Alaska’s first Coronation representing Eugene as their first Empress. It was in that first visit that he fell in love with the state.
We are unsure of exactly what year Dan arrived in Alaska but we are sure he began making an impact right away. As manager of the Jade Room Bar, Cherresse started Alaska’s first weekly drag show and soon knew everyone.
Years later, Cherresse was elected Empress 18 of All Alaska and served with distinction through some very rough times in Alaska. He was always a trooper who showed up for any fundraiser to tread the boards in those distinctive boas… everyone knew Cherresse was in the house from all the feathers left wherever he went!
Dan was part of and helped many other organizations in Alaska raising charity funds for many causes. Of these, Dan’s pet organization was the Mount McKinley Non-Ascent Club which was a gay organization dedicated to enjoying Alaska’s great outdoors camping, fishing, hiking, etc. Eventually, when Dan’s roommates Bob and Gene DeLoach began building the “Triangle Ranch” on a lake north of Anchorage, Dan became the defacto Den Mother for the McKinley Club, Men’s Club, and many others.
Over the years Dan welcomed, fed, looked after, cleaned up after, and nurtured hundreds of young Alaskan gay (and straight) young men and women. Many of us have Dan to thank for being that mentor who showed us all how to get along with each other and love each other even when we want to kill each other.
This, I think, is Dan’s greatest legacy: of all the people I’ve talked to and all the time I knew Dan, the worst he was ever heard him speak of others (even when he was treated very badly) was “that little shit”, shake his head, and change the subject… and he would still smile that sweet smile when he said it. I hope we can all remember that about Dan Cherresse Cook and perhaps his legacy will be a happier community of loving, caring friends.
Ever in Peace, Love, and Unity
Emperor 25 of All Alaska
Mikey Wa LaChoy
