he was born on june 28, 1884 in oakland, california to ada l. and william h. cooke. cooke grew up in lockeford, california. cooke's grandfather, dr. dean jewett locke, was the founder of the town of lockeford. cooke attended the university of california where he graduated from the california school of mechanical arts and the college of electrical engineering. in 1910, cooke was racing cars and living in oakland.