Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, June 17, 1995 TAG: 9506200038
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: MCLEAN LENGTH: Short
Nicholas T. Cooke III submitted his resignation this week, said Bishop Peter James Lee of the Diocese of Virginia. Cooke earlier resigned as rector of a church in McLean after revelations about his wife's theft while she was a top church official.
Ellen Cooke admitted taking the money over several years while she was treasurer of the national church. She has not been charged, although federal investigators are looking at the case, authorities said.
It is not clear whether Cooke knew his wife was taking church money for such things as a vacation home and private-school tuition for their children.
Lee, in a letter to a superior, said he accepted Cooke's resignation from the priesthood ``for causes not affecting his moral character.''
Church officials discovered the embezzlement this year after Ellen Cooke had resigned as treasurer at the New York City headquarters. Nicholas Cooke was rector of a Montclair, N.J., church while his wife worked in the Episcopal headquarters. They moved to Virginia in April when Cooke took over at St. John's Episcopal Church in McLean.
In her only public statement, Ellen Cooke said the embezzlement was a ``cry for help.''
by CNB