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Justin Cook is no stranger to leadership and forging a strong sense of community, so he’s a perfect fit to serve as Chairman of this year’s United Way of Hamblen County Campaign.

“Fortunately, every company that I have worked for has been a big supporter of the United Way, so I’ve supported and participated in the campaigns for years and have been a big champion and advocated for the United Way,” Cook said.

“And then I credit my good friends, Greg Steisslinger and Chris Liposky, who had roped me in many years to serve on several committees. I think it’s just a natural progression to where now this year I have the honor to serve as Chairman of the campaign.

“I was very honored to accept the role, and the only concern I had was that I was finishing up the Rotary year as president and my younger son has his senior year, so I just wanted to be careful about timing – but it made sense and has worked out, so I’m excited for the campaign ahead.”

This year’s campaign theme is ‘Life Loves On.”

The phrase is from an August 2021 article published in The Atlantic magazine, ‘What Bobby McIlvaine Left Behind,” written about McIlvaine’s death in the 9-11 attacks on the Twin Towers in New York City.

“He was 26 years old when he was tragically killed, and so the article is about grief and trauma and how the family dealt with that,” Cook said.

“His fiancée – he was going to pop the question within the week, so for all intents and purposes, she was his fiancée – at his funeral read from his journals. He was a big writer, he kept a log of journals, I think he wanted to be a journalist and so he kept a lot of notes. She came across the words, ‘life loves on.’ There was some discussion as to whether the phrase was actually ‘life lives on,’ but she interpreted the key word as ‘loves’ and the phrase became a mantra for the family.

“The mom had a bracelet with the words inscribed and the dad, who was a schoolteacher and who I picture as a very mild-mannered individual, had the words tattooed on his arm,” Cook said. “And so it became a motto for the family, for the loved ones left behind, to help deal with the grief, to deal with the tragedy.

“I thought it would serve as a nice inspirational theme. We all deal encounter grief, we all encounter trauma. In fact many of the agencies deal with those types of experiences.”

The annual Budget and Allocations process includes discussions by agency leadership about their programs and services with the B&A Committee that is made up of community volunteers.

“I was really impressed by their missions and how they coordinate,” Cook said. “It gave me a lot of confidence as a citizen that the United Way is a very effective way to support our community. But I also remember that a common theme from the agencies was trauma and how dealing with difficult situations could send someone over the edge or down a dark path. The phrase ‘Life Loves On’ really struck a chord with me and I think it’s a great inspiration. It reminds us all of the resilience we have within ourselves to overcome hard times.”

The goal for this year’s United Way of Hamblen County Campaign is $1,350,000.

“It’s going to take our entire community, our business community, individuals in the community locking arms and stepping up,” Cook said. “I’m excited about the campaign ahead. We are so fortunate to live where we are, in a community where people value community and care about one other. I’m confident and optimistic we’re going to rally to meet and hopefully exceed the goal.”

Cook grew up on the West Coast, attended college in New York and then spent a year at Fort Benning, Georgia.

“I like that I lived in the Pacific Northwest, the southwest, the northeast and then settled in the southeast,” Cook said. “My wife, Jen, and I and moved to Clarksville, Tennessee, initially, Fort Campbell Kentucky in 2000 and then Knoxville in 2004 and Morristown in 2007.

“We’ve got two boys, Kaelan (20) and Drew (17), and they’ve grown up in East Tennessee. We fell in love with East Tennessee,” Cook said. “We’re grateful that wherever we’ve been people have been very welcoming. So, today, we’re very proud to call Morristown home.”

Cook spend five years serving in the U.S. Army as an infantry officer before entering the banking field. At Fort Benning, he was enrolled in jump school and Ranger school and infantry training, then spent the rest of his service at Fort Campbell.

“The Screaming Eagles, the 101st – great people, great leadership, great experiences. I really enjoyed my time in the service,” he said. “I eventually made the tough decision to separate once my commitment was up. I’m grateful for the experience but also grateful to have stability in terms of raising the boys, having a family and also being in Morristown for 15-plus years now.”

Cook serves as Senior Vice President and Commercial Relationship Manager of First Horizon Bank in Morristown. He is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and has a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations. He is a Certified Financial Planner (2019) and a Certified Treasury Professional (2016). In addition to having served as President of Rotary of Morristown (2022-23), he is a current board member of Covenant Health Morristown-Hamblen and a member of the Walters State Community College Board of Trustees and a volunteer with the Congressional Medal of Honor Society.