Former Cape Girardeau Mayor Howard Tooke dies

Former Cape Girardeau Mayor Howard Tooke, 88, died Sunday afternoon at the Missouri Veteran's Home.

Tooke served for 18 years on the city council, 13 as mayor, until he retired in 1986.

Current Mayor Jay Knudtson said Cape Girardeau is a better place because of Tooke.

"He dedicated his life to the office of mayor and exemplified what public service meant," Knudtson said.

Former Mayor Al Spradling III describes Tooke as a quiet but well-respected man.

"When he spoke, you listened," Spradling said. "I just remember he ran things with a quiet but iron fist. He didn't like controversy."

But several controversial issues arose while Tooke was in office.

When he was elected to the city council in 1968 and became mayor in 1970, the city was at the height of civil unrest over the issue of low-income housing. In August of that year, arsonists burned the M.E. Leming Lumber Co., of which Tooke was president.

Tooke was perhaps best known for bringing the Show Me Center to Cape Girardeau, also sparking controversy because one group wanted the center placed on the west side of town instead of next to the campus.

During Tooke's tenure, Doctor's Park opened in 1971 and Saint Francis Medical Center broke ground in 1973. The hospital was completed in 1976.

The Interstate 55 linkup was completed in 1972, when the last concrete was poured between St. Louis and Cape Girardeau, making traveling between the two cities faster and easier.

Spradling said he followed Tooke's lead on how to run the city council when he served as mayor from 1994 to 2002.

"He was quite an amazing individual," Spradling said.

Tooke served his final four years as the city's first mayor under the charter form of government. Under the charter the mayor is elected at large by city voters.

A member of the Southeast Missouri Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame, Tooke umpired Babe Ruth and Connie Mack League games in Cape Girardeau for 10 years. He also served as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Missouri Local Government Employees Retirement System for more than 25 years.

Tooke ran unsuccessfully for the Missouri Senate and the county commission.

At his retirement party in 1986, Tooke said, "People have called me stubborn and complained about many of my decisions. But like the old umpire I believe that, in my heart, I always called them all right."

He is survived by his wife, Frances Tooke, and three children.

Funeral arrangements are incomplete at Ford and Sons Funeral Home in Cape Girardeau.

Knudston said the city plans to honor Tooke by flying flags at half-staff this week.

"We're going to recognize his great legacy and treat this like Cape Girardeau lost its top dignitary," Knudtson said. "It's a very sad day."

jfreeze@semissourian.com

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